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LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 

founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 

HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign 


http://www.archive.org/details/artfolioofshenanOOwayl 


Art  Folio  of  The  Shenandoah  Valley 


Matchless  Mountains  Witching  Waters 

Historic   Battlefields  Celebrated  Highways 

Idyllic  Landscapes  Subterranean  Fairylands 

In  Virginia's  Famous  Valley,  "The  Daughter  of  the  Stars" 

WITH  HISTORICAL  AND  DESCRIPTIVE  SKETCHES 


Author  and  Publisher  :  Printers  and  Binders  : 

JOHN  W.  WAYLAND  THE  McCLURE  CO.,  Inc. 

Harrisonburg,  Ya.  Staunton.  Va. 

PHOTOGRAPHERS: 
Hugh  Morrison,  Jr.,  Woodstock;  A.  N.  Carroll,  Front  Royal;  B.  H.  Jones  and  A.  T.  Wright,  Berry 
ville;  William  Dean  and  Hugh  Morrison,  Harrisonburg;  F.  P.  Hammers,  Elkton ;  E.  G.  Furry,  Bridgevvater 
F.  A.  Walter,  Staunton ;  G.  R.  Buswell,  Elvria,  Ohio ;  and  others. 


MADE      IN      THE      SHENANDOAH     VALLEY 


Copyright,   1924 
By  John  W.  Wayland 


I1 1.55 


AN  ORACLE  FROM  THE 
"SEVEN  HILLS" 


THE  following-  interesting  article  was 
written  in  January,  1924,  by  the  editor 
of  the  Richmond  Times-Dispatch.  Evident- 
ly he  had  seen  the  "Daughter  of  the  Stars" 
and  knew  whereof  he  spoke: 

"When  Miss  Megan  Lloyd  George  re- 
turned to  England,  she  said  the  one  regret 
she  brought  back  with  her  from  America  was 
that  she  did  not  visit  California.  She  had 
heard  its  praises  sung  throughout  her  tour 
of  this  country;  she  pictured  it  as  a  sort  of 
fairyland  skirting  our  West  Coast  for  the  de- 
light of  all  who  might  come  to  dream  amid 
scenes  of  unequaled  beauty. 

"It  never  occurred  to  Miss  Megan — it 
could  not  have,  because  she  didn't  know — 


that  within  less  than  a  day's  journey  of  her 
lay  a  stretch  of  country  as  beautiful  and  as 
soul-satisfying  as  any  she  could  find  in 
America.  On  the  Shenandoah  Yallev  of 
Virginia  nature  lavished  its  artistry.  No 
place  in  the  world  is  more  pleasing  to  the 
eye.  More  than  that,  its  historical  appeal 
certainly  cannot  be  equaled  by  any  tourists' 
paradise,  such  as  California  or  Florida. 
And,  in  addition  to  these  two  attractions,  the 
Valley  is  rich — an  area  humming  with  indus- 
try and  possessing  natural  resources  in 
amazing  profusion. 

"Miss  Megan  Lloyd  George  didn't  know 
she  had  missed  America's  real  wonder-land." 


"So  he  left  the  plains  of  Kansas  and  their  bitter  woes  behind  him, 
Hired  a  farm  by  Harper's  Ferry,  and  no  one  knew  where  to  find  him." 


From  the  days  long  ago,  when  Thomas 
Jefferson  admired  the  natural  wonders  at 
Harper's  Ferry  and  wrote  of  them  in  his 
famous  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  to  the  pres- 
ent, the  huge  gash  in  the  mountains,  the 
peaceful  union  of  the  waters,  and  the  event- 
ful procession  of  history  have  all  combined 
to  give  this  marvelous  spot  charm  and  re- 
in iwn. 

One  of  Nature's  great  gateways  into  the 
Shenandoah  Valley  and  the  inviting  West, 
it  has  admitted  explorers,  pioneers,  settlers, 
and  tourists  from  the  times  of  Michelle  the 
Frenchman,  Van  Meter  the  Dutchman,  Jost 
Hite  the  German,  and  George  Washington 
the  Englishman.  Long  before  the  white 
man's  face  was  ever  seen  there  the  Red  Men 
of  the  South  and  of  the  North  passed  and  re- 
passed in  peace  and  in  war. 


1 1  was  almost  at  this  gateway  in  the 
mountains  that  Stonewall  Jackson  paused  in 
May  of  1862  in  his  swift  pursuit  of  Banks; 
and  here  it  was  later  the  same  year  that  he 
received  the  capitulation  of  the  strong  gar- 
rison just  in  time  to  allow  him  and  his  war- 
worn veterans  to  rush  across  the  Potomac 
and  help  hold  the  thin  gray  lines  on  the 
bloody  hills  of  Antietam. 

John  Brown's  "Fort"  has  been  torn  away 
to  make  room  for  travel  and  trade,  but  the 
traditions  of  Old  Osawatomie  and  his  fol- 
lowers are  still  in  the  air.  Tablets  and 
monuments  tell  the  story  of  the  years  and 
surcharge  the  present  with  spirits  of  the 
past. 

Harper's  Ferry  is  one  of  the  great  won- 
der spots  of  America. 


Harper's  Ferry — The  Potomac  on  the  Left 


"Than  yonder  rock-ribbed  hills  and  wooded  heights, 
No  worthier  theme  could  poet's  pen  inspire." 


Most  of  the  pictures  of  Harper's  Ferry 
are  "close-ups."  The  one  on  the  opposite 
page  was  made  specially  for  this  work  to 
show  the  beautiful  setting  of  the  Gap  in  the 
surrounding  landscape.  This  picture  was 
photographed  a  mile  southwest  of  the  Ferry, 
on  the  road  towards  Halltown  and  Charles 
Town,  just  at  the  turn  of  the  road  on  the  hill. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  in  a  land  like  this 
Daniel  Bedinger  Lucas,  Virginia  Lucas, 
Danske  Dandridge,  Philip  Pendleton  Cooke, 
and  others  should  be  inspired  to  poetry.  Not 
ineptly  has  this  region  been  styled  the 
"Alsace-Lorraine  of  Virginia."  Now  in 
West  Virginia,  it  has  the  geography  and 
traditions  of  the  Old  Dominion. 


Splendid  landscapes,  roaring  trunk-lines 
of  railway,  broad  and  smooth  highways,  fer- 
tile farms,  busy  factories,  and  progressive 
people  make  this  "land  of  dreams"  a  land  of 
promise  and  fulfilment. 

In  a  long  rectangle  bounded  on  three 
sides  by  the  Shenandoah,  the  Potomac,  and 
the  Opequon,  are  Harper's  Ferry,  Bolivar, 
Shepherdstown,  Shenandoah  Junction, 
Charles  Town,  and  Berryville.  A  few  miles 
to  the  west  are  Martinsburg  and  Winches- 
ter. Everywhere  are  thrifty  villages  and 
well-tilled  farms.  Abundant  deposits  of 
Shenandoah  limestone  make  rich  soil,  hard 
roads,  massive  buildings,  and  thriving  in- 
dustries. 


Harper's  Ferry  Gap,  From  the  Road  Towards  Charles  Town 


"Yes,  they  called  him  'Crazy  Rumsey,' 
And  they  thought  that  he  was  dead, 
But  his  dreams  are  floating  cities, 
And  we  follow  where  he  led." 


A  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Po- 
tomac, at  Shepherdstown,  W.  Va.,  stands 
the  tall  shaft  that  tells  the  world  of  James 
Rumsey,  one  of  the  early  makers  of  steam- 
boats. In  December,  1787,  he  ran  his  won- 
derful little  boat  against  the  current  of  the 
river,  around  the  picturesque  Horseshoe 
Bend,  while  admiring  multitudes  scrambled 
along  the  rugged  shores  in  breathless  eager- 
ness. 

This  was  twenty  years  before  Robert 
Fulton's  Clermont  ran  on  the  Hudson.  To 
both  of  these  men  poverty  and  incredulity 
were  millstones  for  many  years;  to  one  of 
them  Fate  at  last  was  kind,  but  to  the  other 
the  years  brought  only  disappointment  to 
darken  the  face  of  promise.    More  than  once 


in  America  and  in  Europe  his  dreams  seemed 
on  the  point  of  coming  true,  but  death  inter- 
posed and  cut  short  his  work.  He  died  in 
London  in  1792. 

In  1839  the  legislature  of  Kentucky  pre- 
sented a  gold  medal  to  Rumsey's  son  in  token 
of  its  appreciation  of  the  inventor's  services; 
and  within  recent  years  this  towering  shaft 
has  been  raised  to  his  memory  on  the  banks 
of  the  Potomac,  where,  in  the  meager  years 
of  long  ago,  the  dreamer  paced  back  and 
forth,  while  a  great  vision  was  striving  in 
his  soul  for  birth. 

In  the  library  of  Shepherd  College,  at 
Shepherdstown,  is  a  fine  collection  of  books 
and  other  sources  of  information  regarding 
Rumsey  and  his  work. 


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"Fair  Opequon,  cool  Opequon, 

Boughs  caress  thy  pebbled  strand  ; 
Out  the  past  come  Love  and  Romance, 
Ling'ring  in  Opequon-Land." 


Please  pronounce  it  as  if  it  were  spelled 
"Opeckon,"  with  the  accent  on  "peck."  It 
is  an  Indian  name,  one  of  the  few  that  linger 
in  Beautiful  Valley.  "Shenandoah,"  "Mas- 
sanutten,"  "Opequon,"  "Potomac,"  and 
"Tuscarora"  are  about  all  of  those  native 
terms  of  music  that  the  white  man  has  saved 
hereabouts.  Let  us  preserve  and  cherish 
them  all. 

The  Opequon  heads  in  the  western  parts 
of  Frederick  County,  flows  down  southeast- 
wardly  past  Bartonsville  to  the  county  line 
between  Frederick  and  Clarke,  and  thence 
turns  into  a  direct  course  northeastward,  fol- 
lowing it  some  forty  miles  to  the  Potomac, 
dividing  first  the  counties  of  Frederick  and 


Clarke  in  Virginia,  then  the  counties  of  Jeff- 
erson and  Berkeley  in  West  Virginia. 

The  old  stone  bridge  shown  in  the  oppo- 
site picture  spans  the  Opequon  near  Mar- 
tinsburg,  the  county-seat  of  Berkeley  Coun- 
ty. Tt  was  built  in  the  days  when  men  took 
time  to  build  for  time.  Tt  reminds  the  ob- 
server very  much  of  the  famous  old  "Jug 
Bridge''  that  carries  a  great  highway  across 
the  Monocacy  just  outside  of  Frederick, 
Maryland. 

Whether  the  Opequon  is  a  creek  or  a 
river,  we  shall  not  pause  to  argue.  It  is  an 
abundant  and  beautiful  stream,  at  any  rate, 
and  it  waters  a  fertile  and  beautiful  land. 


Bridge  Over  the  Opequon,   Near  Martinsburg 


"For  Old  Brown, 
Osawatomie  Brown, 
Mad  as  he  was,  knew  texts  enough  to  wear  a  parson's  gown." 


In  1859  and  1922,  as  well  as  at  other 
times,  this  old  brick  court  house  at  Charles 
Town,  Jefferson  County,  West  Virginia,  has 
been  the  theatre  of  stirring  scenes.  When 
John  Brown  was  tried  therein  the  country 
was  stirred  from  end  to  end;  and  when  re- 
cently the  mine  men  of  the  western  regions 
of  the  state  were  on  trial  in  the  same  old 
building  the  interest  of  the  country  at  large 
was  hardly  less  intense. 

Charles  Town,  named,  it  is  said,  in  honor 
of  Charles  Washington,  is  the  prosperous 
center  of  a  rich  and  beautiful  farming  dis- 
trict. The  charm  of  the  landscape  is  en- 
hanced by  song  and  story.     For  generations 


the  region  has  been  historic.  Different  mem- 
bers of  the  Washington  family  have  been 
residents  of  the  community;  Horatio  Gates 
and  Charles  Lee  were  nearby  neighbors ;  the 
Darkes  and  the  Bedingers  lived  not  far 
away.  At  Harewood,  only  a  mile  or  two 
outside  the  town,  Dolly  Payne  Todd  became 
the  wife  of  James  Madison. 

Moreover,  Charles  Town  and  the  district 
thereabouts  has  not  lacked  sons  and  daugh- 
ters to  chant  its  praises.  The  gift  of  song 
seems  native  to  the  soil.  'Tis  a  land  to  in- 
spire dreaming.  Poets,  writers  of  history, 
soldiers,  and  jurists  have  given  it  charm  and 
distinction.    To  paraphrase  one  of  them, 


"They've   swept   across   the   field   of    Mars 
And  bowed  to   fame  amid  the   stars." 


St.  Hilda's  Hall,  a  high  class  school  for 
2-irls    is  one  of  the  cultural  attractions  of 


Charles  Town.  The  B.  &  O.  and  the  N.  &  W. 
railways  make  the  town  easily  accessible. 


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"A  softer  glow  on  hill  and  stream — 
Within  my  soul  a  hush : 
A  breath,  a  whisper,  and  a  dream." 


White  Post  and  Greenway  Court,  in  the 
southwest  corner  of  Clark  County,  are  names 
to  conjure  with.  For  generations  they  have 
been  known  in  song  and  story.  In  the  days 
when  the  wilderness  wanderer  needed  the 
sign  on  the  white  post  to  find  his  way  to 
Greenway  Court,  that  far  retreat  may  have 
been  a  Lethe  for  disappointed  love.  Soon  it 
became  the  open  door  to  fame  for  the  young 
surveyor  from  Tidewater.  Shortly  there- 
after Braddock  and  his  ill-fated  veterans  re- 
joiced for  a  brief  season  in  its  hospitality. 

Almost  the  only  structure  that  remains 
at  Greenway  Court  today  to  recall  to  us  the 


times  of  Washington  is  the  ancient  stone 
"Office."  In  this  building  it  is  probable  that 
the  young  surveyor  and  his  employer,  Lord 
Fairfax,  would  confer  with  the  land-buyers 
of  colonial  days.  There  the  maps  and  the 
surveying  instruments  were  presumably 
kept.  And  it  bids  fair  to  stand  another  cen- 
tury or  two  as  a  reminder  of  fruitful,  though 
strenuous,  years. 

In  October,  1853,  Washington  Irving 
paid  a  visit  to  Greenway  Court  and  wrote 
about  it  in  his  charming  style.  More  than 
one  novelist  and  poet  has  found  here  rich 
traditions  of  the  past. 


Washington  Office  at  Greenway  Court 


'Once  by  a  ruined  church  they  rode. 
Round  which  a  churchyard  lay; 

Strange  spectres  stood  among  the  graves, 
In  judgment-like  array." 


"Old  Chapel"  is  not  a  "ruined  church"  by 
any  means,  for  all  of  its  hundred  and  thirty- 
odd  years;  but  it  echoes  to  the  tread  of  wor- 
shipers now  only  once  a  year.  It  is  one  of 
the  historic  places  of  Clark  County  that  have 
chained  the  memories  and  stirred  the  fancies 
of  many  generations. 

John  Esten  Cooke,  the  romancer  of  the 
Civil  War,  has  immortalized  this  quaint  rest- 
ing-place of  the  dead  in  more  than  one  of  his 
novels.  His  body  rests  beneath  the  quiet 
shades   of   the   interlacing   trees.      Edmund 


Randolph,  another  whom  fame  has  crowned, 
is  also  buried  here.  The  most  interesting 
inscription  in  the  churchyard,  no  doubt,  is 
that  which  may  be  laboriously  deciphered 
upon  the  tomb  of  Winnifred,  the  faithful 
wife  of  Major  Marquis  Calmes. 

No  one  who  passes  through  the  region  of 
Millwood  or  Berryville  should  fail  to  visit 
Old  Chapel.  For  additional  particulars  re- 
garding" this  cherished  landmark,  see  Way- 
land's  "Scenic  and  Historical  Guide  to  the 
Shenandoah  Valley,"  pages  24  and  25. 


Old  Chapel,  Between  Berryville  and  Millwood 


"Voices  linger  at  old   Audley, 

Sounding  low  from  out  the  past, 
Like  soft  music  in  the  twilight, 

With  a  sweetness  that  shall  last." 


In  no  part  of  Virginia  can  the  lover  of 
historic  old  homesteads  find  keener  delight 
than  in  the  region  around  Berryville,  Win- 
chester, Millwood,  and  Bartonsville. 

When  young  George  Washington  was  a 
surveyor  for  Lord  Fairfax  he  must  have 
noted  with  interest  the  fertile  rolling  plains 
between  Opequon  and  the  Shenandoah;  and 
when  Lawrence  Lewis,  the  husband  of  Nellie 
Custis,  needed  a  farm  Washington  directed 
him  to  the  fine  lands  just  east  of  Berryville. 
There  the  quaint,  comfortable  homestead 
Audley  was  built.  And  thither  after  the 
death  of  her  husband  in  1830,  Nellis  Custis 


Lewis  came  to  live  and  there  she  made  her 
home  till  her  death  in  1852.  "Nellie's  Room" 
is  today  the  chamber  of  honor  for  favored 
guests. 

Audley  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
Lewis  family  till  1902,  when  it  was  pur- 
chased from  the  heirs  of  Daingerfield  Lewis 
by  Archibald  Cummins.  In  1921  Mr.  B.  B. 
Jones,  the  present  owner,  bought  the  place 
from  Mr.  Cummins. 

Only  a  short  distance  west  of  Audley  is 
Soldier's  Rest,  a  favorite  home  of  General 
Daniel  Morgan.  Saratoga,  another  Morgan 
home,  is  between  Millwood  and  Boyce. 


Audley.  Once  the  Home  of  Nellie  Custis 


"  'I    am   Sir   Fontaine,'    spoke   the   knight, 
'Now  mount  in  haste,'  said  he, 
'For  thou  shalt  ride  this  New-Year  tide 
Across  the  land  with  me.'  " 


Ever  since  the  days  when  Alexander 
Spotswood  and  his  Knights  of  the  Horse- 
shoe rode  across  the  Blue  Ridge  and  into  the 
Valley  the  men  of  Northern  Virginia  have 
been  expert  horsemen.  George  Washing- 
ton himself  was  a  familiar  figure  on  horse- 
back in  the  region  of  Berryville,  Winchester, 
and  Greenway  Court.  Thomas  Jefferson, 
like  Washington,  was  a  lover  of  horses  and 
doubtless  rode  into  the  Valley  more  than 
once.  In  the  Civil  War  days  the  troopers 
who  followed  Ashby,  Imboden,  Rosser,  and 
Mosby  were  recruited  largely  from  the  men 


of  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  General  Lee  and 
his  famous  horse  Traveler  were  often  seen 
west  of  the  Blue  Ridge  in  the  martial  Sixties. 

In  recent  years  the  breeding  of  thorough- 
breds has  assumed  large  proportions  in  many 
sections  of  the  Valley.  In  Clark  County  es- 
pecially great  horse  farms  are  numerous. 
Audley,  Pagebrook,  Carter  Hall,  Saratoga, 
and  others  are  well  known  as  the  homes  of 
fleet  four-footed  beauties  of  the  turf. 

The  opposite  picture  shows  a  group  of 
famous  lineage  on  Audley  Farm,  just  east  of 
Berryville. 


Thoroughbreds  on  a  Clark  County  Farm 


"Twas  near  the  time  when  Braddock's  army  passed 
The  rugged  mountains  and  the  trackless  vast. 
O'er  rocks,  o'er  hills,  o'er  crags,  o'er  cliffs  they  go 
And  near  Monongahela  meet  the  foe." 


In  the  historic  old  town  of  Winchester, 
at  the  corner  of  Braddock  Street  and  Cork, 
stands  a  quaint  old  house  around  which  the 
snows  of  many  winters  have  melted  at  the 
call  of  the  grass  and  flowers.  It  is  familiarly 
known  as  "Washington's  Headquarters." 

Past  this  very  spot — past  this  very  old 
building  in  all  probability — a  large  part  of 
Braddock's  army  passed  on  that  ill-fated 
march  westward  in  1755;  and  in  this  rough 
stone  house,  after  Braddock's  defeat,  Wash- 
ington had  his  headquarters  while  he  was  di- 
recting the  construction  of  Fort  Loudoun  on 


a  nearby  hill.  The  garrison  of  the  post, 
which  was  charged  with  the  defence  of  the 
frontier,  was  camped  in  the  adjacent  square. 
Remains  of  old  Fort  Loudoun  may  still 
be  seen  at  Fort  Loudoun  Seminary ;  and  the 
new  George  Washington  Hotel  will  afford 
luxurious  accommodations  for  the  visitors 
who  may  wish  to  look  over  the  city  and  in- 
spect the  relics  in  the  little  old  house  on  the 
corner.  Washington's  Headquarters  today 
is  an  interesting  museum.  The  old  cannon 
just  outside  point  the  way  that  Braddock's 
soldiers  followed  in  those  days  of  long  ago. 


Washington's    Headquarters   at  Winchester 


"When  Youth,  at  the  gates  of  Life,  cried  aloud 
for  Knowledge,  Wisdom  came  out  of  the  ages  and 
gave  him  a  book." 


The  Handley  Library  is  a  free  public 
library,  a  gift  to  the  city  of  Winchester  by 
Judge  John  Handley  of  Scranton,  Pa.  The 
splendid  building"  is  constructed  of  Indiana 
limestone  and  cost  (  1910)  without  equip- 
ment $1 50,000.  Tt  is  situated  on  a  spacious 
lot  at  the  corner  of  liraddock  Street  and 
Piccadilly,  with  a  lawn  artistically  planted 
with  shrubbery  and  trees. 

In  addition  to  reading"  and  reference 
rooms,  the  building  contains  a  lecture  hall, 
conference  rooms,  and  several  smaller  rooms 
for  special  study  work.  The  lecture  hall, 
seating  300,  is  equipped  with  a  high  grade 
dissolving  stereopticon. 

There  are  15,000  volumes  in  the  library 
on  open  shelves  for  free  circulation  to  resi- 
dents of  the  town,  and  about  1,000  volumes 
are  added  yearly.  Serving  a  population  of 
7.500,  the  circulation  of  books  has  increased 


from  24,341  in  1914  to  56,297  in  1923. 
Twenty  daily  newspapers  from  ten  principal 
cities  of  the  United  States  are  on  file  in  the 
reading  room.  There  are  also  seventy -five 
magazines,  including  ten  English  periodi- 
cals. 

The  collection  of  reference  books  is  es- 
pecially rich  and  is  much  used.  Circulating 
books  are  sent  regularly  to  patrons  in 
Clarke,  Warren,  Shenandoah,  Fairfax,  and 
Alexandria  counties  in  Virginia,  and  Jeffer- 
son, Berkeley,  and  Hampshire  counties  in 
West  Virginia.  Scores  of  school  children 
come  daily  for  help  with  their  essays,  de- 
bates, and  other  projects. 

A  branch  library  for  the  use  of  the  col- 
ored people  of  the  city  was  opened  in  Octo- 
ber, 1921,  in  the  Douglass  school  building, 
and  it  is  proving  of  much  service,  especially 
to  the  school  children. 


Handley  Library,  Winchester,   Virginia 


"The  gift  of  Youth  in  long  procession 
Can  never  pass — Youth   with   its   eternal   dream." 


The  new  Handley  school  building  is  lo- 
cated on  seventy-two  acres  which  border  the 
historic  Valley  Pike.  Tt  has  been  planned  to 
incorporate  the  most  recent  developments  in 
school  architecture  together  with  some  origi- 
nalities, and  is  serving  as  a  model  for  many 
other  school  systems. 

It  is  of  the  one  story  type,  colonial  brick, 
571  feet  long  by  180  feet  deep,  and  stands 
back  1,200  feet  from  the  Pike.  Tt  accommo- 
dates 1,500  pupils  and  has  in  addition  to  the 
fifty  regular  and  special  class  rooms  an  ath- 
letic stadium  and  recreation  grounds,  an 
auditorium  seating  1,500,  a  gymnasium,  a 
large  indoor  play  court,  a  dispensary  with 
school  nurse  offices,  administration  offices, 
and  open  air  class  room.  It  cost  about 
$800,000,  exclusive  of  the  site.  All  class 
rooms  are  provided  with  over-head  light, 
and  those  used  by  the  younger  pupils  have 


outdoor  exits  and  are  equipped  with  ward- 
robes which  have  a  special  drying  device  for 
drying  wraps  in  wet  weather. 

The  Handley  School  is  open  each  week 
day,  and  there  is  a  guide  on  hand  on  Sunday. 
Visitors  are  always  welcome  and  will  be 
furnished  at  all  times  with  a  guide. 

In  the  educational  development  of  the 
Handley  system  it  has  been  the  policy  to 
avoid  the  strait-jacket  methods  of  former 
times  and  to  adapt  both  subject  matter  and 
methods  to  the  needs  of  the  community  and 
the  pupils.  The  Handley  Schools  make  up 
the  public  city  system  of  Winchester  and  are 
maintained  from  an  endowment  fund  of 
$1,200,000,  derived  from  the  residuary  be- 
quest of  Judge  John  Handley,  in  addition  to 
the  amounts  received  from  local  and  state 
taxation. 


Handley  School,  Winchester,  Virginia 


"Storied    Springdale,    by    Opequon, 

While  the  constant  waters  flow, 
May  the  years  rest  lightly  on  thee, 
And  the  breezes  gently  blow." 


Tn  1731  or  1732  Jost  Hite,  later  known  as 
the  "Old  German  Baron,"  led  a  party  of  set- 
tlers into  the  Shenandoah  Valley  and  lo- 
cated them  in  the  region  between  Winches- 
ter and  Strasburg.  The  open  land  was  be- 
fore them  and  they  chose  the  best.  The 
Bowmans,  the  Chrismans,  and  the  Frohmans 
were  among  that  band  of  hardy  pioneers. 

Locating  at  Springdale,  Hite  soon  estab- 
lished a  wayside  inn  which  provided  hospi- 
tality for  the  pilgrims  of  the  lonely  trails. 
George  Washington,  while  a  surveyor  for 
Lord  Fairfax,  stopped  more  than  once  with 
"Captain  Hite." 

In  1753  Colonel  John  Hite,  a  son  of  Jost, 
built  the  substantial  dwelling  shown  in  the 
picture.  It  is  constructed  of  the  famous 
Shenandoah   limestone,   and   stands   on   the 


east  side  of  the  celebrated  Valley  Turnpike, 
six  miles  out  of  Winchester.  Beside  the 
spring,  between  the  mansion  house  and  the 
Opequon  Creek,  may  be  seen  the  ruins  of  an 
older  house,  the  very  one,  in  all  probability, 
in  which  the  "Old  German  Baron"  enter- 
tained Washington  and  other  guests  of  his 
day. 

No  doubt  Washington  was  often  a  guest 
in  the  house  that  is  now  standing,  inasmuch 
as  it  was  completed  when  he  was  only  twen- 
ty-one or  twenty-two  years  old.  When  the 
young  colonel  was  supervising  the  building 
of  Fort  Loudoun  in  Winchester,  during  the 
French  and  Indian  War,  this  house  had  al- 
ready been  occupied  by  Colonel  Hite  and  his 
family  some  three  or  four  years. 


X 


Old  Hite  House  at  Springdale,  Near  Winchester 


"God  hewed  out  a  fortress  in  the  mountains, 
He  hedged  it  with  the  everlasting  hills." 


A  dozen  miles  of  beauty,  hidden  securely 
within  the  Massanutten  ranges,  with  one 
gate  at  Edinburg,  another  at  Waterlick,  be- 
tween Strasburg  and  Front  Royal,  with 
homes  and  cherished  hearth  tires,  with  wat- 
erfalls and  sylvan  glens — this  is  Powell's 
Fort. 

The  stranger  passing  along  the  famous 
Valley  Turnpike,  or  up  and  down  the  Valley 
on  the  side  of  Luray  and  Front  Royal,  gazes 
with  admiration  upon  the  beautiful  moun- 
tain that  shears  the  skyline  all  along  the 
way,  but  he  never  dreams  of  this  quiet  Ar- 
cadia within  its  sheltered  folds. 

Tradition  tells  of  Powell  the  pioneer,  se- 


cure in  his  fastnesses,  who  mined  silver  and 
minted  it,  and  who  always  eluded  the  offi- 
cers of  the  law  when  they  sought  to  appre- 
hend him.  The  little  valley  in  the  moun- 
tains was  a  fortress  for  Old  Man  Powell — so 
the  stories  go;  and  it  is  even  said  that  Wash- 
ington, in  the  dark  days  of  the  Revolution, 
thought  sometimes  of  leading  his  war-worn 
veterans  into  Powell's  stronghold  to  make  a 
last  desperate  stand. 

In  the  days  of  the  Civil  War  romance  and 
tragedy  added  not  a  little  to  the  traditions  of 
Powell's  Fort.  The  summer  visitor  will  find 
much  to  interest  him  in  this  little  Switzer- 
land, so  near  his  path  and  yet  so  little  known. 


In  Powell's  Fort,  Massanutten  Mountain 


"Yes,  the  Valley  has  a  voice,  and  it  speaks 
In  the  crystal  waters  flowing — and  the  peaks ; 
We  can  hear  it  as  we  listen, 
'Mid  the  flowers  or  snows  that  glisten — 
Yes,  the  Valley  has  a  voice." 


Passage  Creek,  in  Powell's  Fort,  is  one  of 
the  numerous  streams  that  lave  the  foothills 
of  the  Shenandoah  V alley,  carrying  down 
over  rocky  beds  the  waters  of  the  perennial 
springs  in  the  mountains.  It  heads  far  up  in 
Powell's  Fort,  breaks  out  of  the  narrow  val- 
ley in  joyful  cascades  near  Waterlick,  be- 
tween Strasburg  and  Riverton,  and  shortly 
mingles  its  sparkling  waters  with  the  North 
Branch  of  the  Shenandoah  River,  near  the 
point  where  Cedar  Creek  comes  in  from  the 
other  side. 


The  natural  scenery  along  both  these 
streams,  Passage  Creek  and  Cedar  Creek,  is 
wild,  rugged,  and  indescribably  beautiful. 
The  former  drains  the  gorge  in  the  Massa- 
nutten  range,  the  latter  carries  down  into 
the  Valley  the  cool  springs  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies. 

A  summer  in  Powell's  Fort  is  a  sedative 
to  jangling  nerves  and  a  tonic  to  the  soul. 
Within  a  few  hours'  ride  of  great  centers  of 
population,  it  will  some  day  be  made  ready 
for  the  tired  thousands  who  will  annually 
seek  its  quiet  shades. 


"They  climbed  the  blue  embattled  hills, 
Against  uncounted   foes, 
And  planted  there,  in  valleys  fair, 
The  lily  and  the  rose." 


Front  Royal,  the  county-seat  of  Warren 
County,  occupies  a  strategic  position,  wheth- 
er in  war  or  in  peace.  Two  famous  passes 
in  the  Blue  Ridge  open  at  her  gates — Ma- 
nassas Gap,  through  which  come  a  high- 
way and  the  Southern  Railroad  from  Wash- 
ington, and  Chester  Gap,  through  which  a 
splendid  automobile  road  connects  the  Val- 
ley with  Warrenton,  Culpeper,  and  Char- 
lottesville. 

Riverton,  the  twin  town,  is  situated  just 
across  the  hill  northwestward  from  Front 
Royal,  at  the  confluence  of  the  waters  and 
the  railways.  There  the  North  Branch  of 
the  Shenandoah  meanders  around  the  rug- 
ged shoulders  of  the  Massanutten  and  joins 
the  South  Branch  in  the  limestone  gorge,  and 
there  the  Norfolk  and  Western  Railway,  be- 
tween Hagerstown  and  Roanoke,  crosses  the 


Washington  and  Harrisonburg  branch  of 
the  Southern. 

The  scenery  at  Riverton  and  Front  Royal 
is  bold  and  beautiful.  The  views  of  rivers, 
valleys,  and  mountains  are  heightened  with 
charm  and  variety.  Whether  one  looks 
westward,  towards  the  Massanutten,  or  east- 
ward towards  the  Blue  Ridge,  the  glory  of 
it  all  is  inspiring  and  the  matchless  harmony 
is  restful  and  satisfying. 

The  picture  on  the  opposite  page  is  the 
reproduction  of  a  photograph  made  from  one 
of  the  balconies  of  Randolph-Macon  Acad- 
emy, which  crowns  a  hill  on  the  western  bor- 
ders of  Front  Royal.  The  camera  was  point- 
ing down  across  the  town  and  on  southeast- 
ward into  Chester  Gap  in  the  Blue  Ridge 
Mountains. 


Front   Royal  and  Chester  Gat.  From   Academy   Him. 


"When  sinks  the  sun  behind  Virginia  hills, 
And  twilight  hovers  o'er  the  Valley  cool, 
I  bid  goodnight  to  every  little  flower 
That  nods  beside  my  homeward  path." 


A  few  miles  above  Front  Royal  and  Riv- 
erton,  on  the  South  Branch  of  the  Shenan- 
doah River,  is  Gooney  Manor.  For  years  it 
has  been  a  synonym  for  agricultural  fertility 
and  landscape  beauty. 

In  the  picture  on  the  opposite  page  one 
looks  up  the  stream  (the  main  stream  of  the 
Shenandoah)  and  beyond  towards  the  Mas- 
sanutten  Mountain.  In  old  deeds  for  land 
between  the  Blue  Ridge  and  the  Massanut- 
ten  range  the  latter  is  sometimes  called  the 
"North  Mountain."  In  the  oldest  extant 
map  of  the  region,  made  by  Louis  Michelle 
in   1707,  the  Massanutten   is  designated  as 


"'the  Mountains  of  Cenuntua."  This  is  ob- 
viously a  form  of  "Shenandoah." 

From  the  trail  route  marked  on  Mich- 
elle's map,  and  the  little  tent-pictures  that 
denote  resting  places,  it  is  evident  that  this 
bold  explorer  camped  at  or  near  Gooney 
Manor. 

In  the  days  before  the  railroads  were 
built  it  was  a  common  thing  to  see  flatboats 
floating  down  the  Shenandoah,  heavily  laden 
with  the  products  of  Valley  farms  and  fur- 
naces, bound  for  Harper's  Ferry  and  some- 
times for  Washington  and  Baltimore. 


The  Shenandoah  at  Gooney  Manor 


"Swiftly  flows  the  little  river, 

Beauteous  'Daughter  of  the  Stars,' 
Past  the  fields  once  stained  and  crimson — 
Here  the  'Stripes'  and  there  the  'Bars.' 


At  this  particular  point  the  Shenandoah 
(  North  Fork,  just  above  Strasburg)  is  flow- 
ing directly  towards  the  Massanutten  Moun- 
tain. At  the  base  of  the  mountain  it  turns 
sharply  to  the  left  and  girdles  the  end  of  the 
range  towards  Riverton  and  Front  Royal. 

This  picture  shows  the  landscape  mid- 
way between  the  battlefields  of  Cedar  Creek 
(to  the  left )  and  Fisher's  Hill  ( to  the  right ). 
In  making  his  attack  on  Sheridan  before  day- 
light on  October  19,  1864,  Early  sent  Gordon 
on  a  wide  flank  movement.  Gordon  led  his 
men  from  the  vicinity  of  Fisher's  Flill  over 
against  the  shoulder  of  the  Masaanutten, 
thence  northeastward  across  the  river  and 
Cedar  Creek,  up  through  the  rugged  lime- 
stone hills,  and  fell  upon  the  sleeping  Fed- 
erals near  the  Ramseur  Monument  and  the 
Belle  Grove  Farm,     it  was  Stonewall  Jack- 


son's old  trick,  and  right  well  Gordon  and 
his  men  played  it. 

Just  recently  the  town  of  Strasburg  has 
tunnelled  through  the  range  of  the  Massa- 
nutten shown  in  this  picture  and  has 
brought  a  fresh  and  abundant  water  supply 
Out  of  Powell's  Fort,  the  Arcadian  valley 
that  lies  within  the  mountain  ranges.  It  was 
in  that  same  little  valley,  Powell's  Fort,  it 
is  said,  that  Washington  sometimes  thought 
of  making  a  last  stand  in  the  dark  days  of 
the  Revolution,  if  worst  came  to  worst. 

On  the  peak  of  this  mountain  both  Blue 
and  Gray  had  signal  stations  during  the 
Civil  War.  Doubtless  the  Red  Men,  in 
times  prehistoric,  shot  their  smoke  signals 
towards  the  stars  from  the  same  rugged 
heights. 


The  Shenandoah   and  the  Massanutten,  at  Strasburg 


"Tell  me  of  a  land  that  gave  ever  bravest  of  the  brave, 
First  to  hail  the  star  of  freedom  in  the  a;loam." 


The  picture  opposite  was  photographed 
on  the  parade  ground  of  Massanutten  Mili- 
tary Academy,  just  at  the  south  end  of  the 
historic  old  town  of  Woodstock,  in  Shenan- 
doah County. 

The  mountain  gap  in  the  distance,  right 
behind  the  tall  flagstaff,  is  the  Edinburg  Gap 
in  the  Massanutten  Mountain,  leading  into 
the  upper  end  of  the  celebrated  Powell's 
Fort.  A  fifteen-mile  line  drawn  straight 
from  the  flagstaff  through  the  Gap  would 
probably  strike  the  town  of  Luray  or  the 
grounds  of  Luray  Caverns. 

Massanutten  Academy  had  its  beginning 
years  ago  in  the  house  that  was  formerly 
the  home  of  U.  S.  Senator  H.  H.  Riddleber- 
ger.  This  old  homestead  is  still  preserved 
on  the  campus  as  part  of  the  general  scheme 
of  buildings.     It  stands  hard  by  the  Valley 


Turnpike,  on  the  west  side,  on  a  gentle 
eminence  that  overlooks  the  beautiful  land- 
scape. 

Woodstock  was  first  called  Miller's 
Town,  and  was  laid  off  on  the  lands  of  Jacob 
Miller  in  the  year  1761.  Tt  was  the  site  of  a 
fort  to  which  the  settlers  of  the  neighbor- 
hood fled  when  menaced  by  invading  bands 
of  hostile  Indians.  Early  in  the  Revolution 
Miller's  Town  was  the  scene  of  the  dramatic 
incident  in  which  the  young  Pastor  Muhlen- 
berg threw  off  his  clerical  robe  to  show  the 
soldier's  uniform  beneath  it. 

The  old  limestone  court  house  at  Wood- 
stock, erected  in  1791,  is  one  of  the  best 
known  landmarks  of  the  Valley,  and  is  the 
oldest  courthouse  in  Northern  Virginia, 
west  of  the  Blue  Ridge. 


Retreat  Formation,  Massanutten  Military  Academy 


"Shendo's   waters   gently   flow 
In  the  summer's  noontide  glow, 
And  the  shadows  idly  play 
Round  my  dream-boat's  mystic  way." 


Between  the  Valley  Turnpike  and  the 
Massanutten  Mountain,  east  of  Woodstock, 
the  Shenandoah  River  (North  Branch) 
makes  one  giant  loop  after  another  on  its 
sinuous  way  down  the  Valley  towards  Fish- 
er's Hill  and  Strasburg.  Seven  of  these  huge 
folds  in  the  stream's  bed  multiply  the 
straight  line  distance  between  Edinburg  and 
Strasburg  by  two  or  three. 

Hollingsworth's  Ford,  one  of  the  spots 
along  the  stream  where  lovers  fain  would 
linger,  and  where  even  the  crabbed  old  cynic 
can  hardly  escape  a  whisper  of  romance,  is 
near  the  point  where  the  road  from  Wood- 
stock  cuts   across   the   Yallev   towards    the 


Massanutten,  and  scaling  the  precipitous 
wall  by  zigzag  angles  breaks  over  into 
Powell's  Fort  where  Nature  left  no  gateway. 
From  the  top  of  the  Massanutten,  at  the 
point  where  the  road  scales  the  summit  of 
the  long  ridge,  the  panorama  of  the  Valley 
westward  is  splendid  beyond  description. 
The  winding  miles  of  river  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain,  the  farm  lands  marked  off  in 
scpiares  of  green  and  brown,  the  town  of 
Woodstock  nestling  in  its  groves  of  maples, 
and  the  angular  Alleghanies,  flung  all  along 
the  far  western  horizon,  unite  to  form  a 
scene  that  entrances  the  eye  and  enchains 
the  fancv. 


Hollingsworth's  Ford,  Shenandoah  River,  Near  Woodstock 


"Here  Nature's  bold  handiwork  is  caressed  and  garlanded  by  Beauty.' 


Nowhere  on  all  the  "Long  Gray  Trail" 
from  Harper's  Ferry  to  the  Natural  Bridge 
is  there  a  more  profuse  outpouring  of  rug- 
ged wonders  or  a  more  fascinating  variety 
than  may  be  seen  at  Narrow  Passage,  mid- 
way between  Woodstock  and  Edinburgh  in 
Shenandoah  County. 

But  the  stranger  here,  as  at  the  Natural 
Bridge,  might  pass  all  unaware  of  many  of 
the  wonders  hidden  within  a  stone's  cast  of 
the  roadway.  The  high  railway  bridge  a 
short  distance  to  the  west  might  so  thor- 
oughly attract  his  attention  that  the  river 
canon  on  the  east  would  escape  notice  alto- 
gether. 


To  appreciate  the  wonder  and  the  beauty 
here  combined  one  must  pause  and  descend 
into  the  rocky  gorge  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Pike  and  walk  out  on  the  foot  bridge  that 
spans  the  rapid  little  river.  Then  he  should 
climb  the  hill  and  look  down  into  the  gorge 
that  the  river  has  cut  into  the  cliffs  on  its 
way  out  from  the  Massanutten.  The  pic- 
ture opposite  shows  the  scene  at  this  point. 

Narrow  Passage  is  a  high  wall  of  rock 
between  the  river  and  a  creek — a  natural 
causeway  just  wide  enough  for  the  road.  In 
earlier  days  the  track  was  more  constricted 
than  at  present.  Tn  Indian  times  this  nar- 
row pass  was  the  scene  of  more  than  one 
tragedy. 


The  Shenandoah  at  Narrow  Passage 


"Thus    in    my    dream-boat    drifting 
Far  from  familiar  things, 
I  enter  royal  castles, 

Sit  down  with  queens  and  kings. 


The  young  lady  who  wrote  the  foregoing 
lines  had  come  to  the  Valley,  "The  Daughter 
of  the  Stars,"  from  a  far  country  where  there 
are  no  mountains  and  where  the  rivers  are 
not  always  like  mirrors  of  crystal.  To  be 
sure,  the  Shenandoah  is  muddy  at  times,  and 
once  or  twice  in  a  generation,  as  for  example 
in  1870  and  again  in  1877,  it  breaks  out  of 
its  banks  and  stops  travel  on  the  Pike  at 
such  a  place  as  this. 

This  picture  was  taken  just  half  a  mile 
above  the  famous  old  homestead  of  Red 
Banks,  in  Shenandoah  County.  There  the 
Pittmans,  their  "heirs  and  assigns,"  have 
lived  for  many  years.  The  old  house  was 
built  in  1802  by  Lawrence  Pittman,  whose 
ancestor  had  come  to  the  Shenandoah  Val- 


ley sixty  years  earlier  from  Bingen  on  the 
Rhine. 

In  the  days  when  stage  coaches  ran  up 
and  down  the  Pike  on  regular  schedules  and 
the  farmers  of  the  Valley  "wagoned"  to 
Alexandria  and  Winchester,  Red  Banks  was 
a  favorite  stopping-place.  General  Andrew 
Jackson  and  Madame  Jerome  Bonaparte  are 
still  named  in  the  family  traditions  as  among 
the  noted  guests  of  olden  days.  There  is 
scarcely  a  doubt  that  Henry  Clay,  Abraham 
Lincoln,  and  many  another  of  renown  passed 
this  way  in  ante-bellum  years.  During  the 
Civil  War  every  army  of  Blue  or  Gray  that 
entered  this  part  of  the  Valley  passed  and 
often  repassed  this  trail  beside  the  waters. 

The  mountain  in  the  picture  is  the  Mas- 
sanutten. 


The  Shenandoah   at  Red  Banks 


'Where  dancing  waters  lead  the  way 
To  fairyland  and  holiday." 


One  of  the  few  "old-timey"  wooden 
bridges  that  still  span  the  Shenandoah  is 
shown  in  the  picture  on  the  opposite  page. 
It  carries  the  road  out  of  Meem's  Bottom  to 
Strathmoor  beyond  the  wooded  bluff  on  the 
left.  Years  ago  all  the  bridges  of  the  region 
were  of  this  style  and  structure.  The  one  a 
mile  farther  down  the  river,  where  the  Val- 
ley Pike  crosses,  was  long  of  this  type.  Such 
a  one  the  Blue  and  the  Gray  fought  over  and 
burned  and  such  a  one  was  built  there  again, 
remaining  until  a  few  years  ago  when  the 
present  iron  structure  took  its  place. 

The  charming  rural  scene  of  which  the 
bridge  in  the  picture  forms  a  striking  fea- 
ture, is  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  west 
of  the  Valley  Pike,  at  the  extreme  west  side 


of  Meem's  Bottom.  It  (the  bridge  at  least) 
can  be  seen  from  the  highway,  and  it  can 
easily  be  located  by  the  private  road  that 
leads  from  the  Pike  across  the  Bottom  to 
Strathmoor,  the  splendid  old  manor  house 
on  the  plateau. 

The  straight  roadway  through  Meem's 
Bottom  tempts  the  driver  to  speed,  but  the 
tourist  who  enjoys  the  contemplation  of 
beauty  combined  with  plenty  should  linger  a 
moment.  It  is  hard  to  tell  when  this  match- 
less landscape  is  at  its  best — in  summer 
green  or  autumn  gold.  Corn,  wheat,  and  al- 
falfa grow  here  in  profusion ;  and  on  the  sur- 
rounding hills  are  apple  orchards  that  seem 
endless. 


Bridge  at  Strath  moor,  Meem's  Bottom 


"The   shadows   play   across   the   hills 

Of  Shendo  Land ; 
The  waters  leap  in  tuneful  rills, 

On  either  hand, 
While  far  below  in  deeper  shadows  hide 
The   fairies  of  an  ancient  wonder-tide." 


As  one  drives  along  the  Valley  Pike  on  or 
in  the  vicinity  of  Rude's  Hill,  he  sees  Shen- 
andoah Caverns  Inn  on  a  slope  of  Turkey 
Knob  a  mile  to  the  west.  Nearby  he  ob- 
serves the  power  house;  and  at  night  he  sees 
the  row  of  brilliant  electric  lights  leading  up 
the  hill  to  the  very  entrance  of  the  Caverns. 
If  he  travels  by  the  railway  he  finds  that  the 
trains  stop  only  a  few  hundred  yards  from 
the  entrance. 

For  many  years  Shenandoah  Caverns 
were  known  to  a  few  persons,  but  it  was 
only  in  1922  that  they  were  made  accessible 
to  the  public  with  the  present  splendid  equip- 
ment. Since  that  date  thousands  have  come 
to  admire  and  have  departed  to  remember 
and  to  wonder.  To  unfold  the  beauties  of 
these  caverns  required  the  installation  of  an 
electric  lighting  system  sufficient  to  illumi- 


nate a  town  of  two  thousand  people,  and  the 
completeness  of  the  provision  is  remarkable. 
There  are  more  miles  of  electric  cables  in 
Shenandoah  Caverns,  it  is  said,  than  may  be 
found  in  any  other  caverns  in  the  world. 

The  wide  paths  of  this  subterranean  won- 
derland are  made  of  crushed  stone,  and  the 
air  is  free  from  dampness.  The  tempera- 
ture is  such  that  no  change  of  clothing  is  re- 
quired. 

That  particular  part  of  the  Valley  sur- 
rounding the  Caverns  is  justly  celebrated. 
As  one  visitor  expressed  it,  "Jllst  as  the 
Shenandoah  Valley  is  the  most  beautiful 
part  of  the  South,  so  the  environs  of  the 
Shenandoah  Caverns  are  the  most  beautiful 
of  the  Valley,  and  the  Grotto  of  the  Gods  is 
the  greatest  wonder  in  this  wonderland." 


Shenandoah  Caverns  and  Hotel 


"Like  giant  wraiths 
Rushed  down  impetuously,  were  seized  at  once 
By  sudden  frost,  and  with  all  their  hoary  locks 
Stood  still!" 


The  world  travelers  who  have  sought  the 
unusual  and  the  beautiful  and  have  seen  Na- 
ture at  her  best  in  coral  seas  and  in  the  frozen 
North  have  stood  entranced  before  the  Dia- 
mond Cascade  in  the  Shenandoah  Caverns. 
A  translucent  cataract  many  feet  high,  set 
with  a  million  jewels  whose  facets  sparkle 
and  scintillate  in  the  glow  of  softened  lights, 
paused  an  instant  and  was  caught  in  the 
smile  of  beauty. 

And  not  far  away  are  the  Frost  King's 
Palace,  Rainbow  Lake,  the  Grove  of  the 
Druids,  and  the  Hanging  Gardens  of  Baby- 
lon. At  each  of  these  we  pause  and  wonder 
how  Nature  could  make  one  so  beautiful  and 
still  have  untouched  glories  for  the  others. 


The  Hunter's  Lodge,  the  Indian  Wigwam, 
and  the  Replica  of  the  Capitol  Dome  at 
Washington  are  only  a  few  of  the  other 
wonders  with  which  this  palace  of  the  fairies 
has  been  decorated. 

A  feature  of  Shenandoah  Caverns  is  the 
Zoo.  In  the  magic  riot  of  the  rocks  the  vis- 
itor may  see  outlined  in  perpetual  pose  of 
silence  birds  of  the  air  and  beasts  of  the  field. 
And  there  are  glaciers,  pure  and  white,  and 
an  Inferno,  such  as  a  Dante  might  have 
shuddered  to  conceive,  far  down  a  rock- 
strewn  gulch  ;  and  further  on  a  figure  in  the 
silent  attitude  of  prayer,  waiting,  it  almost 
seems,  to  hear  the  Angelus  from  a  nearby 
cathedral. 


Diamond  Cascade,  Shenandoah  Caverns 


"When  the  apple  trees 
And  the  orchards  are 


are  blooming  in  the  springtime, 
aglow  with  pink  and   white." 


The  apple  orchards  of  the  Shenandoah 
Valley  are  a  glory  and  a  joy.  Incidentally, 
they  are  also  a  treasure  trove  of  wealth  and 
an  inexhaustible  source  of  luscious  food  sup- 
ply. The  blossoms  in  the  springtime  fill  the 
Valley  with  beauty  and  fragrance;  the  acres 
of  rustling  verdure  in  the  summer  refresh 
the  landscape  with  motion  and  color;  and  the 
heavy  clusters  of  red  and  gold  in  the  autumn 
crown  the  year  with  contentment  and  the 
grateful  spirit  of  Thanksgiving. 

For  many  years  the  region  around  Win- 
chester and  Martinsburg  has  been  famous 
for  its  peach  orchards  and  its  apple  orchards. 
Apple  Pie  Ridge,  just  west  of  Winchester, 
has  been  celebrated  for  generations.     About 


1890  Mr.  John  Wissler  planted  an  extensive 
commercial  orchard  between  Mt.  Jackson 
and  Ouicksburg,  and  today  the  surrounding- 
hills  for  miles  are  covered  with  vigorous 
trees  of  carefully  selected  varieties.  Turkey 
Knob  Orchards  are  in  this  region. 

Front  Royal,  Timberville,  Harrisonburg, 
Staunton,  and  Waynesboro  are  all  sur- 
rounded by  rich  acres  of  productive  orch- 
ards. Some  of  the  favorite  varieties  among 
Valley  apples  are  the  Stayman,  Grimes 
Golden,  Delicious,  Black  Ben,  Rome  Beauty, 
and  Winesap.  Shenandoah  Valley  apples 
have  won  prizes  in  many  states  and  they  are 
shipped  to  man_\r  lands. 


Turkey  Knob  Apple  Orchards 


"The  breezes  of  suspiring  spring 

From  Massanutten's  side  shall  blow, 
Around  this  spot  their  incense  fling, 
And  sigh  in  holy  whispers  low." 


This  picture  shows  the  New  Market  Gap 
in  the  Massanutten  Mountain  through  which 
Stonewall  Jackson  led  his  army  eastward  in 
May,  1862,  hiding  so  completely  from  Gen- 
eral Banks  at  Strasburg  that  the  latter  did 
not  know  where  the  boys  in  gray  were  till 
the  muskets  began  to  rattle  at  Front  Royal 
a  day  or  two  later. 

Now  this  road  through  the  Gap  has  been 
widened  into  one  of  the  most  attractive 
stretches  of  the  Lee  Highway.  This  splen- 
did trail  comes  across  the  mountains  from 
Luray  and  joins  the  Valley  Pike  at  New 
Market.  Three  miles  above  New  Market 
are  the  celebrated  Endless  Caverns;  at  an 


equal  distance  below  are  the  beautiful  Shen- 
andoah Caverns. 

For  many  years  at  New  Market  lived 
Joseph  Salyards  (  1808-1885),  scholar,  teach- 
er, and  poet.  He  was  born  at  or  near  Front 
Royal,  but  his  name  is  treasured  in  many 
parts  of  the  upper  Shenandoah  Valley, 
where,  often  in  mean  structures  and  always 
with  meager  equipment,  he  gave  the  young 
men  who  sat  at  his  feet  such  visions  of  truth 
and  beauty  as  lift  the  soul  to  exalted  heights. 

The  photograph  here  reproduced  was 
taken  just  outside  of  New  Market,  with  the 
camera  pointing  due  east. 


New  Market  Gap  and  Lee  Highway 


"Hid    far  away   from   star  and   sun, 
Weird  realms  of  wonder  wait, 
While  aeons  all  uncounted  run, 
Till  Chance  unbars  the  gate." 


For  more  than  a  hundred  years  wonder- 
ful caves  in  the  hills  just  west  of  Luray  have 
been  known  to  exist,  but  it  was  not  until  the 
year  1878  that  the  now  celebrated  Luray 
Caverns  were  discovered.  Since  then,  from 
time  to  time,  additional  realms  of  mystery 
and  beauty  have  been  uncovered,  and  the 
fame  of  these  caverns  has  gone  around  the 
world.  During  the  year  1922  the  number  of 
visitors  was  about  fifty  thousand. 

It  would  be  impossible  in  brief  space  to 
enumerate  all  the  remarkable  and  beautiful 
formations  in  these  caverns.  Titania's  Veil, 
the  Fish  Market,  the  Organ  and  Chimes,  and 
the  Frozen  Fountain  are  notable.  To  many 
persons    the    Saracen's    Tent    appears   most 


fascinating"  and  beautiful.  The  great  Ameri- 
can Eagle  is  a  marvel  in  stone.  Skeleton 
Gorge  and  the  Ball  Room  are  two  of  the 
more  familiar  of  the  large  apartments.  The 
Cathedral  Towers  are  striking  and  graceful 
in  harmonious  symmetry. 

The  scenery  around  Luray,  with  the  Blue 
Ridge  on  the  east  and  the  Massanutten  on 
the  west,  is  bold  and  beautiful.  Rich  vales 
of  farm  land  border  the  Hawksbill  and  other 
streams  that  carry  the  spring  water  of  the 
hills  into  the  Shenandoah  River.  The  Lee 
Highway  passes  through  Luray  and  on 
westward  to  the  Valley  Pike  at  New  Market, 
by  way  of  the  picturesque  gap  in  the  Massa- 
nutten not  far  from  the  Caverns. 


Frozen  Fountain,  Luray  Caverns 


"No  one  upon  his  scarlet  coat 

Might  wear  the  golden  shoe 
Till  he  could  prove  that  he  had  crossed 
The  Appalachian  blue." 


This  picture,  taken  from  the  hill  near  the 
entrance  to  Luray  Caverns,  looks  eastward 
across  the  town  of  Luray  and  the  beautiful 
valley  of  Hawksbill  Creek,  upon  the  massive 
ranges  of  the  Blue  Ridge  in  the  distance.  A 
few  miles  up  the  ranges  to  the  right  is  Swift 
Run  Gap,  where  Spotswood  and  the  Knights 
of  the  Horseshoe  came  over  into  the  Valley 
in  1716. 

The  Page  Valley,  which  is  that  part  of 
the  Shenandoah  Valley  that  lies  between  the 
Blue  Ridge  on  the  east  and  the  Massanutten 
Mountain  on  the  west,  is  justly  famed  for  its 
fertile  lands,  its  beautiful  scenery,  and  the 
hospitality  of  its  thrifty  people.  Tt  is  through 


this  part  of  the  Valley  that  the  Norfolk  and 
Western  Railway,  Roanoke  to  Hagerstown 
line,  passes.  Luray  is  a  Mecca  for  tourists; 
the  town  of  Shenandoah  a  few  miles  up  the 
line  is  a  division  point,  busy  with  shops;  and 
it  is  just  at  the  section  shown  in  the  picture 
that  the  Lee  Highway  enters  the  Valley 
from  the  regions  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge. 

Page  County  watermelons  have  been  far 
famed  for  generations.  The  summer  visitor 
who  comes  and  goes  without  tasting  that 
luscious  product  of  the  river  bottoms  should 
make  another  visit  specially  to  remedy  the 
defect  in  his  experiences.- 


Page  Valley,  From  Luray  Caverns  Hill 


"Watched  by  the  sentinel  mountains, 
Arched  by  the  tranquil  sky, 
Steeped  in  the  soul  of  beauty, 
The  hills  of  Virginia  lie.  " 


'"Four  thousand  feet  in  the  blue,"  a  re- 
treat of  quiet  and  health,  an  eyrie  of  beauty 
and  wonder,  this  is  Skyland,  the  "Eaton 
Ranch  of  the  East."  Nine  miles  east  of 
Luray,  on  the  summit  of  the  famous  Blue 
Ridge,  Skyland  can  boast  of  more  scenic 
marvels  than  almost  any  summer  resort  in 
America  or  Europe. 

Forty  artistic  bark-covered  bungalows,  a 
spacious  rustic  dining  hall  with  a  seating  ca- 
pacity of  200,  a  large  swimming  pool,  tennis 
courts,  foot  paths  along  the  cliffs,  and  bridle 
trails  across  the  mountains  and  into  the  val- 
leys— these  are  a  few  of  the  attractions  that 
make  Skyland  so  inviting  and  so  delightful. 
Mountain  summits  in  the  sky  and  splashing 
waterfalls  in  the  glens  lift  the  vision  and 
challenge  the  fancy. 


The  temperature  at  Skyland  in  summer 
usually  ranges  from  sixty  degrees  to  seven- 
ty-four, never  rising  as  high  as  eighty-five. 
Owing  to  the  high  altitude,  hay  fever  and 
kindred  maladies  are  practically  unknown. 
Near  at  hand  are  thousands  of  cords  of  fire- 
wood, and  in  the  buildings  are  sixty  fire- 
places. Scattered  over  the  grounds  are  rus- 
tic seats  and  benches  for  the  convenience 
and  comfort  of  guests.  Horseback  riding  is 
both  a  pleasure  and  a  necessity — no  automo- 
biles or  other  vehicles  are  seen  on  the  moun- 
tains. Electric  lights  at  this  elevation  seem 
almost  rivals  of  the  stars. 

The  picture  on  the  opposite  page  gives  an 
idea  of  the  splendid  panorama  from  Stony 
Man  Mountain.  This  particular  peak  is  only 
a  short  distance  from  Skvland  Park. 


Skyland,  From  the  Sky;  the  Shenandoah  Valley  3,000  Feet  Below 


"A  rainbow  mist,  a  diamond  spray, 
A  music  as  of  tinkling  bells; 
A  bugle  blast,  a  rush  of  light — 
'Tis  dawn  in  Skyland  !" 


A  fitting  accompaniment  to  the  life  at 
Skyland  are  the  bugle  notes  that  punctuate 
the  hours.  Each  morning  the  clear  summons 
of  its  voice  arouses  the  guests  to  the  delights 
of  another  day.  It  calls  them  to  the  dining 
hall  for  meals,  gathers  them  together  at  the 
close  of  day  for  the  evening  festivities,  and 
announces  the  departure  of  the  daily  mail. 

But  sweetest  to  most  who  sojourn  at  Sky- 
land is  the  music  of  the  mountains — the 
singing  of  the  birds,  the  whispering  of  the 
winds,  and  the  infinite  melodies  of  the  water- 
falls. The  cascades  of  White  Oak  Canyon 
are  fascinating  in  beauty  and  variety.     For 


five  miles  a  frightened  stream  clashes  over 
the  rocky  inclines  in  its  precipitous  flight  to 
the  Valley.  Along  the  way  may  be  counted 
no  less  than  eight  beautiful  falls  that  vary  in 
height  from  fifty  feet  to  a  hundred. 

From  the  first  of  May  until  the  latter  part 
of  June  Skyland  is  the  nesting"  place  for 
thousands  of  American  song  birds.  During 
the  spring  of  1916  a  noted  writer  on  birds 
took  a  walk  in  the  early  morning  from  his 
cottage  to  Stony  Man  Peak,  distant  about 
one  mile,  and  on  this  walk  identified  forty 
varieties  of  birds — all  within  a  period  of  less 
than  two  hours. 


J3 


"Mid  the  green  fields  of  Virginia, 

In  the  vale  of  Shenandoah, 
There's  an  ivy-covered  homestead  that  I   love ; 

With  its  quaint  old-fashioned  chimney 

And  its  simple  homelike  air, 
While  the  skies  of  Shenandoah  smile  aliove." 


This  is  one  of  the  splendid  farm  scenes 
that  abound  from  one  end  of  the  Valley  to 
the  other. 

This  particular  homestead  happens  to  be 
historic  as  well  as  picturesque  and  prosper- 
ous. In  it  has  resided  for  many  years  a  de- 
scendant of  Adam  Miller,  who  was  perhaps 
the  first  white  man  to  settle  permanently  in 
this  region.  Nearby  is  the  famous  Bear 
Lithia  Spring;  and  almost  opposite  in  the 
Blue  Ridge,  the  mountain  range  which  forms 
the  skyline  of  the  picture,  is  Swift  Run  Gap, 


celebrated  in  connection  with  the  Knights  of 
the  Horseshoe.  Not  far  away  is  the  old  Kite 
homestead  where  Stonewall  Jackson  had  his 
headquarters  while  his  armies  were  gather- 
ing in  the  spring  of  1862  for  their  memorable 
games  of  hide  and  seek  with  the  boys  in  blue. 
At  Rockingham  Springs  (Hopkins's 
Springs),  a  few  miles  westward  at  the  foot 
of  the  Massanutten,  Sidney  Lanier  spent  the 
summer  of  1879  and  wrote  his  Science  of 
English  Verse. 


A   Valley  Farm   Home,   Near  Elkton 


"He  guards  day  and  night  our  green  valley ; 
For  Nature  who  made  it  so  fair, 
Grew  alarmed  for  her  beautiful  treasure, 
And  placed  him  as  sentinel  there." 


Rising'  out  of  the  plain  with  the  abrupt- 
ness and  almost  the  very  outlines  of  Gibral- 
tar, the  southwest  end  of  Massanutten 
Mountain  cuts  the  skyline  of  East  Rocking- 
ham with  boldnes  and  majesty.  It  is  a  con- 
spicuous and  beautiful  landmark  in  a  circle 
of  many  miles,  and  the  view  from  its  craggy 
summit  reminds  one  of  that  from  Lookout 
Mountain  at  Chattanooga. 

"Peaked  Mountain,"  as  it  is  called  locally, 
was  doubtless  a  famous  altar  of  Indian  fires 
in  prehistoric  days.  During  the  Civil  War 
it  served  as  a  signal  station  to  Blue  and 
Gray.     Almost  opposite,  in  the  Blue  Ridge, 


is  Swift  Run  Gap  where  Spotswood  and  the 
Knights  of  the  Horseshoe  came  over  in 
1716.  Nearby  is  the  summer  resort  where 
Sidney  Lanier  wrote  his  Science  of  English 
Verse  in  1879;  and  in  the  plains  below  are 
the  battlefields  of  Harrisonburg,  Cross  Keys, 
and  Port  Republic. 

Near  Swift  Run  Gap,  in  the  Blue  Ridge, 
is  the  beautiful  Cedar  Cliff  waterfall.  In  the 
spring  of  the  year,  when  the  snows  of  the 
mountain-tops  flush  the  streams,  the  fall  can 
often  be  seen  from  many  points  in  the  Val- 
ley, as  it  describes  a  graceful  arc  in  the  sun- 
light. 


^y  \ 


"Peaked  Mountain,"  From  East  Rockingham 


"A    spot   beside   the   mountain    high, 
With  leagues  of  wonder  at  its  feet, 
And  every  day  a  joy." 


Between  Smith  Creek  and  the  Massanut- 
ten  Mountain,  on  one  of  the  more  accessible 
foothills  of  that  marvelous  range,  stands  the 
attractive  and  hospitable  Lodge  at  the  en- 
trance to  Endless  Caverns.  The  macadam 
road  to  the  Caverns  turns  off  the  Valley  Pike 
three  miles  above  New  Market,  at  the  "Lit- 
tle Log  Cabin  by  the  Lane."  At  night  the 
avenue  of  electric  lights  serves  to  lead  the 
wayfarer  safely  in. 

Endless  Caverns  were  discovered  in  1879 
and  have  ever  since  been  popular,  but  it  is 
only  in  recent  years  that  they  have  been  en- 
hanced with  expensive  equipment  and  have 


become  widely  known.  Now,  it  is  said,  you 
might  ask  any  well  informed  person  in 
Europe  about  them  with  a  reasonable  expec- 
tation of  receiving  a  matter-of-fact  answer. 
The  view  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley  from 
Endless  Caverns  Lodge  is  pleasing  and  re- 
freshing. Down  in  the  long  gorges  of  the 
Caverns  the  wonders  are  multiplied  and 
startling.  The  Oriental  Palace,  Solomon's 
Temple,  the  Lake  Grotto,  the  Grand  Canyon, 
the  Ball  Room,  the  Snow  Drift,  and  the 
( rypsy  Tent  are  all  beautiful  in  pictures,  but 
in  their  native  reality  of  fantastic  colored 
stone  they  are  marvelous. 


•  ■ '     -■*■■,  hff*^fc  t^HBSBQBSS* Vl_'Mtf5r-^ 


Lodge  and  Tea  Room,  Endless  Caverns 


"Great  Nature  had  a 
A  midnight  path  led 
Bright  Fancy's  taper 

The  caverns  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley, 
like  the  stars,  are  similar  and  yet  diverse- 
each  has  a  glory  all  its  own,  though  akin  in 
nature  and  origin.  All  who  have  in  the 
hush  of  wonder  gazed  upon  the  witchery  of 
Diamond  Lake  or  watched  the  marvel  of 
"sunrise"  in  Fairyland  in  the  Endless  Cav- 
erns near  New  Market  grope  futilely  for  ad- 
jectives, but  always  wind  up  in  the  search 
with  "matchless"  or  "indescribable." 


magic  dream  one  day  ; 
straight  to  Fairyland — 
lit  the  secret  way." 

Long  before  the  Gateway  to  Fairyland 
and  the  border  of  Diamond  Lake  are  reached 
the  visitor  to  the  Endless  Caverns  feels  that 
he  has  received  his  money's  worth;  but  the 
guide  manages  with  cleverness  and  renders 
him  speechless  with  the  grand  climax.  As 
he  goes  out  he  seems  walking  in  a  trance  and 
is  prone  to  ask  himself,  "Is  this  the  world  in 
which  we  have  been  living  and  working  or 
is  it  only  'the  land  where  we  were  dream- 

111  g  : 


Gateway  to  Fairyland,   Endless   Caverns 


"I  heard  the  Shenandoah  roll  along  the  vale  below, 
I  saw  the  Alleghanies  rise  toward  the  realms  of  snow." 


1 1  a  person  who  is  familiar  with  the  Shen- 
andoah Valley  from  end  to  end  were  asked, 
"What  is  the  most  beautiful  place  in  the 
Valley?"  he  would  probably  hesitate  before 
committing  himself  to  any  definite  answer. 
And  then  he  would  almost  certainly  hedge 
his  reply  about  with  careful  qualifications : 
"In  respect  to  mountains,  this,"  "In  respect 
to  farm  lands,  that,"  "In  respect  to  waters, 
the  other,"  etc. 


And  the  same  person  might  very  con- 
sistently give  different  answers  at  different 
times,  in  accordance,  perhaps,  with  his  en- 
vironment at  the  moment.  If  he  were  in 
Brock's  Gap,  for  example,  and  were  fond  of 
a  rare  combination  of  rugged  mountain, 
crystal  water,  and  witching  color  he  might 
say  without  hesitation,  "Brock's  Gap  is  the 
most  beautiful  place  in  the  Valley."  If  the 
season  were  autumn  and  the  hour  were  sun- 
set it  would  be  hard  for  him  to  do  otherwise. 


"When  sinks  the  sun  behind  the  mountain  walls, 
And,   in   the   starry   quiet,   the  new   moon 
Hallows  the  evening  hour,  mv  soul  is  free." 


For  generations  the  Gap  has  been  a  fav- 
orite haunt  for  those  whose  feet  are  turned 
to  pleasures  and  whose  eyes  are  caught  by 
beauty.  Red  men  and  buffaloes  must  have 
threaded  a  devious  course  back  and  forth 
at  this  opening  in  the  Alleghany  ranges  for 
centuries  before  the  white  man  came.  Ever 
since  he  came  it  has  been  a  thoroughfare. 


Doubtless  the  most  famous  traveler  to 
pass  this  way,  and  to  record  his  journey  and 
his  stopping  places,  was  General  George 
Washington.  Let  us  hope  that  the  Septem- 
ber day  in  1784,  when  he  passed,  was  bright 
with  sunshine  and  rich  with  early  autumn 
tints. 


The  Shenandoah  in  Brock's  Gap 


"Old  knights   from  graves  of  long  ago 
Now  gathered  near  the  spring, 
And  drank  as  spirits  only  may 

A  health  to  George  the  king." 


Whether  the  celebrated  Knights  of  the 
Horseshoe  ever  got  as  far  into  the  Valley  as 
the  big  spring  on  the  court  square  of  Har- 
risonburg, or  whether  their  ghosts  ever  kept 
tryst  there  on  New  Year's  night  or  not,  may 
be  a  question;  but  the  spring  is  still  there, 
and  certain  well  known  descendants  of  the 
Knights  of  the  Horseshoe  dwell  nearby. 

For  generations  this  great  spring  was  the 
main  source  of  water  supply  for  the  town. 
Before  the  white  men  settled  around  it  the 
Indians  and  the  buffaloes  knew  it  well.  Tt 
was  at  the  crossing  of  two  old  trails — the 
one  up  and  down  the  Valley,  since  widened 


into  the  Valley  Turnpike,  the  other  crossing 
the  Valley  from  east  to  west. 

During  the  Civil  War  thousands  of  sol- 
diers. Blue  and  Gray,  quenched  their  thirst 
at  this  generous  place  of  refreshment.  But 
some  lime  after  1896,  when  the  new  court 
house  was  erected,  the  court  square  was 
paved  and  the  old  spring  had  to  go  the  way 
of  civilization.  It  was  arched  over  and 
paved  over.  Now  the  spot  is  marked  in  the 
street  by  a  large  disk  of  iron,  and  countless 
wheels  rumble  above  it ;  but  the  water  pushes 
its  way  out  under  ground  and  goes  its  way 
to  the  Shenandoah  and  so  on  to  the  ocean,  in 
spite  of  civilization. 


Historic  Spring  and  County  Court  House,  Harrisonburg 


"The  groves  were  God's  first  temples ; 
To  Youth  and  Wisdom  the  oaks  are  oracles." 


For  more  than  a  century  Massanetta 
Springs  (formerly  known  as  Taylor 
Springs)  has  been  a  famous  resort  for  pleas- 
ure, health,  and  social  and  religious  gather- 
ings. In  recent  years  the  Summer  Bible 
Conference  Encampment,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Presbyterian  Synod  of  Virginia,  has 
developed  unprecedented  interest  and  pa- 
tronage. During  one  day  in  1923  it  was  esti- 
mated that  seven  thousand  people  were  on 
the  grounds. 

Massanetta  Springs  is  located  four  miles 
east  of  Harrisonburg,  under  the  shadow  of 
the  majestic  Massanutten  Mountain,  from 
which  both  name  and  fame  are  in  part  de- 
rived. The  waters  are  sparkling  and  in- 
vigorating; the  hotel  accommodations  are 
generous  and  inviting;  and  the  conference 
pavilion  in  the  large  grove  of  huge  native 
oaks  is  a  place  of  quiet  and  rural  charm. 
Tents  on  the  green  of  the  meadow  and 
among  the  oaks  on  the  hill  enlarge  the  facili- 
ties for  lodging  and  outdoor  life. 


Five  conferences  are  annually  held :  The 
Young  People's  Conference,  Training  School 
for  Church  and  Sunday  School  Workers, 
School  of  Missions  for  Women,  the  Men's 
Conference,  and  the  General  Bible  Confer- 
ence. 

Only  the  most  outstanding  religious  lead- 
ers in  America  and  England  have  been 
sought  as  principal  speakers.  In  addition  to 
the  great  leaders  in  the  Southern  Presby- 
terian Church,  Dr.  Campbell  Morgan,  Dr. 
A.  C.  Dixon,  Dr.  Stuart  Ffolden  of  London, 
Dr.  William  Evans  of  Chicago,  and  others 
have  been  on  the  Massanetta  platform. 
Chrystal  Brown  and  Homer  Hammontree 
have  been  among  the  leaders  of  song. 

Young  persons  who  go  to  Massanetta 
return  home  with  a  great  vision  and  uplift 
of  soul,  and  older  men  and  women  who 
spend  a  month  there  go  away  and  tell  of  a 
visit  to  the  Fountain  of  Youth. 


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Massanetta  Springs,  Near  Harrisonburg 


"Adown   sweet    Linville's   vale    today 
Careless  I  wandered  on  my  way, 
Forgetful  of  the  past." 


In  or  before  the  year  1768  John  Lincoln 
came  from  Pennsylvania  into  the  Shenan- 
doah Valley  of  Virginia  and  purchased  a 
large  tract  of  land  on  Linville  Creek.  There 
he  and  his  posterity  established  themselves 
in  thrift  and  prosperity. 

In  or  about  the  year  1800  his  son.  Captain 
Jacob  Lincoln,  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution, 
erected  at  the  old  homestead  the  spacious 
brick  house  shown  in  the  picture  opposite. 
A  number  of  years  earlier,  Captain  Abraham 
Lincoln,  oldest  son  of  "Virginia  John,"  had 
gone  from  this  place  to  Kentucky.  He  was 
the  grandfather  of  Abraham,  the  President. 

John,  Abraham,  and  Jacob  have  been  fav- 
orite   names    with    the    Lincolns    for    many 


generations.  In  Rockingham  County  today, 
where  the  Lincolns  are  still  numerous,  the 
names  are  familiar.  Abraham,  a  son  of  Cap- 
tain Jacob,  added  an  extensive  "L"  to  the 
ancestral  dwelling,  but  it  does  not  at  all  ap- 
pear in  the  photograph. 

Near  the  Lincolns  on  Linville  Creek 
lived  the  Bryans.  It  was  one  of  the  Bryan 
girls  that  young  Daniel  Boone  married 
shortly  after  his  sojourn  in  this  part  of  the 
Shenandoah  Valley-  The  old  road  across  the 
Valley,  from  Brock's  Gap  to  Port  Republic, 
by  which  General  Washington  passed  in 
1784,  crosses  Linville  Creek  only  a  short 
distance  from  the  old  Lincoln  homestead. 


Old  Lincoln  Homestead,  Near  Harrisonburg 


'Amid  the  crags,   'neath   spruce  and  oak, 
The  elves  ran  riot  in  their  glee — 
And  now  behold  a  miracle!" 


Twelve  miles  west  of  Harrisonburg',  in 
the  first  ranges  of  the  Alleghanies,  many 
springs  of  medicinal  waters  break  out.  The 
most  celebrated  and  the  most  visited  are  the 
springs  of  Rawley.  Hotels  and  cottages  dot 
the  rugged  hillsides  and  cluster  in  the  ro- 
mantic vale  of  Gum  Run. 

Far  up  along  one  of  the  enchanting 
mountain-side  paths,  silhouetted  against  the 
blue  sky,  is  a  remarkable  profile  in  the  rock. 
Some  say  that  it  is  the  old  Catawba  chief 
who  was  mortally  wounded  in  the  fight  with 
the  Delawares  by  War  Branch  and  who 
came  up  the  Gum  Run  canyon  to  die ;  but 
others — and  these  are  doubtless  better  in- 
formed— insist  that  it  is  the  face  of  George 
Washington,  the  Father  of  his  Country. 


Another  question  is,  "Did  Washington 
see  his  picture  here  in  the  face  of  the  cliff  at 
Rawley  when  he  passed  through  the  region 
in  September,  1784?"  Nobody  has  ventured 
to  answer  this  question  with  any  degree  of 
certainty,  but  probably  he  did  not.  Never- 
theless thousands  of  his  admiring  country- 
men and  countrywomen  have  looked  upon  it 
since  that  month  and  year. 

It  is  one  of  the  marvels  in  stone  that  vis- 
itors to  Rawley  Springs  always  wish  to  see. 
And  the  view  of  the  Valley  eastward  from 
this  point  is  most  pleasing". 

One  of  the  great  advantages  of  Rawley  is 
that  it  is  really  in  the  mountains,  and  yet 
quite  easy  of  access  from  the  Valley.  It  lies 
at  a  point  of  beauty  where  mountains  and 
Vallev  meet. 


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"Oh,  sweet  and  fair  those  flowers  rare 

On  verdant  banks,  where  waters  flow, 
But  sweeter  far  those  blossoms  are 

That  blush  a  greeting  'mid  the  snow." 


Spring,  summer,  autumn,  these  are  the 
seasons  of  green  promise  and  golden  plenty 
in  Shendo  Land,  but  winter  is  not  without 
its  charms.  Who  has  seen  a  sunrise  on  the 
distant  Alleghanies,  when  their  summits  are 
crowned  with  snow?  or  a  gray  day  of  silence 
when  the  evergreens  are  mantled  thick  with 
the  soft  blankets  of  the  sky?  One  who  has 
seen  these  things  will  not  deny  that  winter 
too  has  its  fascination  and  its  charm. 

The  old  days  of  sleigh-riding  with  "jingle 
bells"  have  apparently  passed  away  with 
other  things  of  pioneer  romance,  but  skating 
and  coasting  are  still  in  vogue.  The  winter 
ice  harvests  have  also  G'one  into  the  storied 


past,  but  young  folks  still  do  snowball  and 
the  boys  have  not  lost  the  primitive  art  of 
tracking  rabbits. 

This  particular  picture  was  made  on  the 
beautiful  campus  of  the  State  Teachers  Col- 
lege at  Harrisonburg,  familiarly  known  as 
"Blue-Stone  Hill."  Many  of  the  young  wo- 
men who  attend  schools  in  the  Valley  come 
from  Tidewater,  Virginia,  and  other  temper- 
ate or  semi-tropical  sections,  and  to  them  a 
snowstorm  is  a  delight.  The  snows,  no  less 
than  the  mountains  and  the  caverns  and  the 
waterfalls,  are  a  joy  to  many  who  visit  the 
Valley  for  health,  wealth,  pleasure,  or  learn- 


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Snow  on  the  Cedars 


"Co-operation  and  courtesy  are  the  open  doors  to  opportunity ;  they  combine  the  charm 
of  the  past,  the  energy  of  the  present,  and  the  promise  of  the  future." 


The  people  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley  are 
a  composite  of  fine  race  elements:  The 
sturdy  Scotch-Irish,  the  thrifty  Germans, 
the  liberty-loving"  Swiss,  the  liberty-building- 
English,  the  gallant  French,  and  the  frugal, 
persistent  Dutch.  They  embody  many  re- 
ligious creeds,  and  their  prosperity  is  pro- 
verbial. Optimism  and  success  are  taken  as 
matters  of  course. 

The  good  will  and  co-operative  spirit  of 
the  dozen  or  more  great  counties  of  the 
Shenandoah  Valley,  in  Virginia  and  West 
Virginia,  are  in  nothing  better  shown  than 
in  the  provisions  they  have  made  to  give  in- 
formation and  assistance  to  all  who  come 
among  them,  either  for  pleasure  or  for  busi- 
ness. A  great  organization  has  been  formed 
and  it  has  been  incorporated  under  the  laws 
of  the  State  to  be  of  material  aid  in  social, 


educational,  agricultural,  and  industrial  en- 
terprise. 

The  Shenandoah  Valley,  Inc.,  has  head- 
quarters offices  in  the  historic  old  Neff  home 
in  Harrisonburg.  Guests  are  always  wel- 
come, and  information  about  the  Valley  and 
its  resources  is  cheerfully  given. 

The  house  shown  in  the  picture  opposite 
was  for  many  years  the  home  of  Dr.  John 
H.  Neff,  a  distinguished  and  beloved  physi- 
cian of  Harrisonburg.  He  was  a  cousin  to 
Colonel  John  Francis  Neff,  the  youngest 
regimental  commander  of  the  famous  Stone- 
wall Brigade.  His  brother,  Captain  Jacob 
G.  Neff  of  Mt.  Jackson,  another  gallant  Con- 
federate, was  for  years  president  of  the  Val- 
ley Turnpike  Company.  The  ancestral 
Neffs  came,  it  is  said,  from  Switzerland. 


The  Neff  House,  Harrisonburg 


"Tell  me  of  a  land  where  love 
Fixed  in  woman's  heart  doth  prove 
Best  of  all  the  gifts  to  man  'neath  heaven's  dome: 


This  picture  was  caught  one  summer's 
day  on  the  sloping'  campus  of  the  State 
Teachers  College  at  Harrisonburg,  near  the 
open-air  amphitheatre  where  Ben  Greet, 
Charles  Coburn,  Clifford  Devereux,  and 
other  woodland  players  have  often  come 
with  their  scenes  from  Arden  Forest  and  old 
London  Town. 

The  elaborate  Shakespeare  pageant  of 
1916,  occupying  two  days  and  engaging  hun- 
dreds of  actors,  was  staged  on  these  same 
green  hillsides.  Every  year  the  daughters 
of  Virginia — are  they  not  "daughters  of  the 
stars?" — fill  the  changing  scenes  with  ani- 


mated color  and  the  air  with  lingering 
music.  The  outdoor  plays  of  "Blue-Stone 
Hill"  have  become  a  feature  in  the  annual 
calendar. 

At  many  places  in  the  Valley,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  work  of  the  schools,  historical 
and  patriotic  pageants  are  occasionally  pro- 
duced. John  Lewis,  Jost  Hite,  Alexander 
Spotswood,  Peter  Muhlenberg,  Joseph  Funk, 
John  Sevier,  Turner  Ashby,  and  many  others 
who  have  filled  the  past  with  renown  are 
called  back  repeatedly  to  give  pleasure  and 
inspiration  to  the  present. 


"Daughters  of  the  Stars" 
In  The  Pageant  "Home  and  Native  Land" 


"Bridgewater  fair,  my  heart's  sweet  care, 
I   love  thy  laughing  waters." 


It  was  not  from  Bridgewater  in  Old  Eng- 
land or  in  Xew  England  that  this  beautiful 
rural  town  took  its  name,  but  from  a  real 
"bridged-water"  of  its  own.  The  early  name 
of  the  settlement  was  "Dinkletown."  There 
one  autumn  afternoon  in  pioneer  days  came 
''Shawnee  Kate"  and  told  young  Mrs.  Eliza- 
beth Irvine  of  an  attack  that  the  Indians 
were  going  to  make  upon  Deerfield,  Mrs. 
Irvine's  old  home.  And  there  in  the  Long- 
Glade  meadows  the  young  woman  caught 
her  horse,  saddled  him,  and  as  night  fell  set 
out  to  carry  the  message  of  warning.  Thirty 
miles  she  rode  through  the  darkness  alone. 


through  Buffalo  Gap,  past  Elliott's  Knob, 
across  the  Calfpasture  River,  and  at  daylight 
drew  rein  at  her  father's  door  in  Deerfield — 
ahead  of  the  Indians. 

For  many  years  the  most  striking  land- 
mark in  Bridgewater  was  the  long  wooden 
bridge  that  spanned  North  River  (a  branch 
of  the  Shenandoah)  at  a  single  giant's  stride 
of  240  feet.  Recently  it  has  been  displaced 
by  an  iron  structure,  safer  no  doubt  for 
heavy  traffic,  but  less  picturesque. 

Bridgewater  College  was  founded  in 
1880.  The  campus  borders  on  the  river  a 
short  distance  below  the  bridge. 


Old  Wooden  Bridge,  at  Bridgewater 


"Flowing  water,  crystal  water, 

Sheltered   from  the  flaming  bars, 
Sown  with  diamonds  in  the  moonlight- 
'Tis  the  'Daughter  of  the  Stars.'  " 


Miracles  underground,  favor  in  the  sky, 
beauty  on  the  hillsides,  and  fun  in  the  water, 
these  are  some  of  the  attractions  that  make 
the  Grottoes  of  the  Shenandoah  one  of  the 
most  popular  resorts  in  the  Shenandoah  Val- 
ley. 

In  the  days  of  Thomas  Jefferson  people 
came  to  the  Grottoes  in  large  numbers  to 
visit  Madison's  Cave.  As  time  went  on  and 
the  marvels  of  Weyer's  Cave  eclipsed  those 
of  the  older  grotto  the  numbers  of  visitors 
increased.  For  some  time  past  the  owners 
have  been  laying  plans  to  make  a  third  won- 
der, the  Cave  of  the  Fountains,  more  easily 
accessible  to  those  who  seek  pleasure  or 
scientific  lore;  and  on  the  hot  days  of  sum- 
mer the  swimming  beach,  hard  by  the  Grot- 


toes, is  a  most  delightful  place  of  recreation 
and  refreshment. 

The  Grottoes  of  the  Shenandoah  are  only 
a  mile  from  the  regular  station  of  Grottoes 
on  the  N.  &  W.  Railway,  and  special  trains 
of  excursionists  stop  on  the  Caverns 
grounds.  Good  auto  roads  lead  in  from 
every  point  of  the  compass.  Burketown  and 
Fort  Defiance  are  good  places  on  the  Valley 
Pike  to  turn  off  eastward  to  Grottoes. 

The  park  at  the  Grottoes  of  the  Shenan- 
doah is  spacious  and  beautiful.  Nature  has 
laid  it  out  with  skill  and  adorned  it  with  va- 
riety and  grace.  Camping  parties  find  it  a 
most  inviting  place  for  a  month  or  two  of 
pleasure. 


Swimming  Beach,  Grottoes  of  the  Shenandoah 


"When  Beauty  carved  her  palaces 
Upon  that  ancient  day, 
Ikr  wizard  laid  his  spell  on  all 
The  fairies  at  their  play." 


From  time  immemorial  the  Grottoes  of 
the  Shenandoah  have  been  a  place  of  wonder 
and  admiration.  No  less  than  three  caves  in 
the  region  thereabouts  are  known- — how 
many  more  may  still  be  discovered  nobody 
can  guess.  The  favorite,  known  for  a  cen- 
tury as  Weyer's  Cave,  is  entered  from  an 
arbored  terrace  that  overlooks  the  Shenan- 
doah River  (South  Branch)  and  faces  the 
Blue  Ridge  Mountains.  From  a  prospect  of 
beautiful  landscape  the  visitor  turns  to  a 
petrified  fairyland. 

By  easy  declines,  on  a  hard,  dry  path,  he 
enters  the  winding  avenues  fantastically 
adorned  with  a  profusion  and  variety  of 
beauty  that  defy  both  imagination  and  mem- 
ory. Form  and  color  are  combined  with  the 
exquisite  touch  of  a  power  that  is  beyond  all 


human  art.  The  scientific  placing  of  electric 
lights  enhances  the  riot  of  wonders. 

The  Grand  Canyon,  the  Senate  Cham- 
ber, Pluto's  Chasm,  and  the  Persian  Palace 
are  only  a  few  of  the  spacious  apartments  in 
these  labyrinths  of  stone.  The  Bridal  Veil, 
the  mammoth  Oyster  Shell,  and  the  Shields 
of  Achilles  are  some  of  the  more  notable 
among  the  curious  formations. 

Of  all  the  splendid  halls  in  the  Grottoes 
of  the  Shenandoah,  the  Cathedral  is  easily 
first.  In  both  size  and  beauty  it  is  perhaps 
unrivaled  in  all  the  caverns  of  the  region. 
The  thousands  who  come  and  go  under  its 
exalted  arches  are  awed  by  a  sense  of  the 
marvelous  and  almost  listen  for  a  swell  of 
music  or  the  chanting  of  a  prayer. 


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'Was  it  in  an  hour  of  whimsical  fancy, 
Or  in  a  black  moment  of  fury  volcanic, 
That  Nature  upreared  here  a  marvel? 
Or  yet  in  slow  silence,  through  aeons  of  years?" 


Near  the  village  of  Mt.  Solon,  in  Augusta 
County,  overlooking  a  beautiful  dell  along- 
side a  branch  of  the  Shenandoah,  are  the 
Natural  Chimneys,  often  termed  the  Cyclo- 
pean Towers.  Gaunt,  gray,  and  storm-cleft, 
these  giant  crags  of  limestone  rise  above  the 
plain  to  a  height  of  almost  a  hundred  feet. 

The  fiction  of  chimneys  is  heightened  by 
the  curious  fact  that  at  the  bases  of  two  of 
these  towering  piles  are  openings  resembling 
fireplaces.  These  openings  extend  far  back 
under  the  crags  and  are  favorite  shelters  for 
cattle  and  other  animals. 


At  Mt.  Solon  is  a  beautiful  blue  lake,  in 
one  of  the  crater-like  depressions  for  which 
the  region  is  notable.  It  is  the  head  of 
Mossy  Creek,  and  furnishes  a  volume  of 
water  from  the  springs  in  its  azure  depths 
sufficient  to  run  a  large  mill. 

The  Natural  Chimneys  and  Mt.  Solon 
may  easily  be  reached  via  the  Chesapeake- 
Western  Railway;  and  auto  roads  lead  in 
from  Harrisonburg,  Dayton,  Bridgewater, 
Mt.  Crawford,  Burketown,  and  Staunton. 


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"Blow,  bugle,   blow;   set  the  wild  echoes  flying; 
Blow,  let  us  hear  the  purple  glens  replying." 


Hard  by  the  Valley  Pike,  at  Fort  De- 
fiance in  Augusta  County,  is  Augusta  Mili- 
tary Academy,  one  of  the  well-known  high 
class  schools  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley. 
The  buildings  and  campus  are  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Pike  and  may  easily  be  recognized 
from  the  picture  on  the  opposite  page  by 
even  a  stranger  who  passes  up  or  down  the 
"  I  .ong  Gray  Trail."  To  be  sure,  the  boys  are 
not  always  standing  on  parade,  but  a  bugle 
note  might  break  upon  the  air  at  any 
moment. 

Three  hundred  yards  northeast  of  the 
Academy,  in  its  grove  of  ancient  oaks,  stands 
the  historic  Augusta  Stone  Church,  dating 
from  the  days  of  early  settlement.  Sturdy 
Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians,  it  is  said,  carried 
their  guns  to  church  for  many  years,  and 


kept  them  handy  while  they  knelt  to  pray. 
Their  heroic  women,  we  are  told,  had  carried 
the  sand  for  the  building  of  the  church  in 
bags  on  horseback  from  the  river  several 
miles  away. 

It  was  in  a  small  brick  structure  in  the 
church  grove  that  Mr.  Charles  Summerville 
Roller  started  the  Academy  years  ago.  His 
sons  continue  his  work  so  well  begun. 

Three  hundred  yards  southwest  of  the 
Academy  is  the  famous  Willow  Spout. 
Every  veteran  of  the  Civil  War  who  passed 
this  way  probably  drank  or  wished  to  drink 
of  the  clear,  cold  stream  that  gushes  from 
the  willow  tree  at  the  roadside.  The  willow 
spout  is  partly  iron  now,  and  nobody  per- 
haps knows  its  number,  but  its  name  is  wide 
ly  known  and  fondly  cherished. 


Augusta  Military  Academy.  Fort  Defiance 


'Out  of  the  Valley  they  send  us  men, 
Fit  for  the  cry  of  the  living  need; 

Strong  with  the  purpose  to  bring  again 
A  clearer  vision  and  nobler  deed." 


In  the  city  of  Staunton,  at  the  corner  of 
Coalter  Street  and  Frederick,  stands  the 
brick  house  in  which  on  December  28,  1856, 
was  born  Woodrow  Wilson.  His  father, 
Rev.  Joseph  R.  Wilson,  was  a  Presbyterian 
pastor,  and  the  house  is  still  the  Manse  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church.  A  tablet  in- 
forms the  passer-by  of  its  unique  distinction. 

On  the  occasion  of  Wilson's  "home-com- 
ing," on  his  birthday  following  his  election 
as  President  in  1912,  he  slept  in  this  house, 
in  the  same  room  in  which  he  had  been  born 
fifty-six  years  before. 

Not  far  away  is  Mary  Baldwin  Semi- 
nary, the  well  known  women's  college, 
where  many  cherished  associations  of  the 
Wilsons  are  lovingly  preserved. 


Wilson  came  of  the  sturdy  Scotch-Irish 
stock  with  which  Augusta  County  and  ad- 
jacent regions  were  peopled  in  the  days  when 
it  took  men  (and  women  too)  to  lay  the 
foundations  of  a  world  power  in  the  wilder- 
ness. In  1732  old  John  Lewis  and  his  sons 
led  the  clans  into  the  shadows  of  Betsy  Bell 
and  Mary  Gray,  and  there  they  began  to 
build,  slowly,  painfully,  but  surely,  and  bet- 
ter than  they  knew. 

Staunton  is  at  the  gateways  to  the  West. 
Here  roads  and  railroads  cross,  and  whether 
one  wishes  to  go  south  to  Lexington  and 
Roanoke,  north  to  Harrisonburg  and  Win- 
chester, east  to  Charlotttesville  and  Rich- 
mond, or  west  to  Monterey,  Warm  Springs, 
Hot  Springs,  or  Clifton  Forge,  Staunton 
holds  the  key  and  points  the  way. 


Birthplace  of  Woodrow  Wilson,  Staunton 


"Circled   with    Virginia   beauty, 

Crowned  with  matchless  names, 
Sacred  here  are  truth  and  duty, 
Here  Youth's  ardor  flames." 


Dating"  in  its  beginnings  from  the  year 
1749,  the  famous  university  at  Lexington, 
Virginia,  has  had  a  notable  history.  Its 
first  charter  was  received  in  1782,  and  it  was 
honored  with  the  name  of  Washington  be- 
cause he  endowed  it  with  a  considerable  sum 
of  money.  In  1802  the  Cincinnati  Society, 
on  dissolving  their  organization,  appropri- 
ated the  residue  of  their  funds  to  the  institu- 
tion. In  1865  General  Robert  E.  Lee  was 
made  president.  The  five  years  under  his 
direction  and  uplifting  influence  were  so  vital 
and  fruitful  that  it  was  quite  fitting  to  join 
his  name  with  that  of  Washingon  in  a  new 
name  for  the  school.  Washington  and  Lee 
University  deserves  its  name  and  its  fame. 

The  name  Lee  has  a  double  significance 
here,  for  General  Custis  Lee,  son  of  "Marse 


Robert,"  was  president  of  the  institution  for 
many  years  following  the  death  of  his  father. 
His  successor  was  William  Lyne  Wilson,  so 
well  known  in  American  history. 

Washington  and  Lee  University  and  the 
Virginia  Military  Institute  are  neighboring 
institutions,  crowning  the  same  fortress-like 
hill  above  the  encircling  river;  and  it  is  a 
matter  of  interesting  coincidence  that  dur- 
ing the  later  years  that  General  Lee  was 
president  of  Washington  College,  Matthew 
Fontaine  Maury,  the  Pathfinder  of  the  Seas, 
was  a  teacher  in  V.  M.  I. 

Under  Dr.  Henry  Louis  Smith,  the  dis- 
tinguished president  of  recent  years,  Wash- 
ington and  Lee  has  grown  steadily  in  its 
ideals  and  in  influence. 


Washington  and  Lee  University;   Newcomb  Hall  and  Library 


"Let  us  pass  over  the  river  and  rest, 
Under  the  shade  of  the  trees." 


From  1851  to  1861  Stonewall  Jackson  was 
professor  of  physics  and  artillery  instruction 
in  the  Virginia  Military  Institute  at  Lexing- 
ton, the  "West  Point  of  the  South."  His 
tomb  is  in  the  cemetery  at  Lexington,  not 
far  from  the  school  that  he  helped  to  make 
famous.  Stonewall  Jackson  Memorial  Hall 
is  one  of  the  buildings  that  adorn  the  campus 
of  the  Institute;  and  in  the  town  of  Lexing- 
ton may  be  seen  the  house  in  which  Jacksoa 
and  his  family  lived.  It  has  been  incorpor- 
ated in  a  hospital  which  also  commemorates 
him. 

The  Virginia  Military  Institute  was  es- 
tablished by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  in  1839.  In  1860  the  cadets  marched 
to  Richmond  and  were  employed  in  drilling 


the  recruits  at  Camp  Lee.  Nearly  all  of  the 
graduates  prior  to  1860  were  officers  in  the 
Confederate  States  army. 

In  May,  1864,  the  cadet  battalion 
marched  down  the  Valley  to  New  Market 
and  there,  on  the  15th  of  the  month,  took 
part  in  the  celebrated  battle  of  New  Market. 
Later  the  same  year  the  buildings  of  the  In- 
stitute were  burned  by  the  order  of  the  Fed- 
eral general,  David  Hunter.  After  the  war 
the  buildings  were  restored  and  the  courses 
of  instruction  were  enlarged  and  extended. 

Many  other  famous  men,  besides  Jack- 
son, have  been  associated  with  V.  M.  I.  as 
students  or  teachers  or  both.  Among  them 
may  be  mentioned  Claude  Crozet,  Sir  Moses 
Ezekiel,  and  Matthew  Fontaine  Maurv. 


Stonewall  Jackson  Memorial  Hall,  V.  M.  I.,  Lexington 


"As  there  I  stand,  I  feel  His  presence  pass 
And  brush  my  cheek  with  the  eloquence  of  love 
That  does  not  need  to  speak." 


To  Thomas  Jefferson  a  possession,  to 
George  Washington  a  challenge,  to  James 
Piper  an  inspiration,  to  all  the  world  a  won- 
der, the  Natural  Bridge  is  one  of  Nature's 
great  masterpieces,  a  miracle  in  stone. 

Spanning  a  deep  canon  through  which  a 
brook  winds  its  tortuous  way,  the  crown  of 
the  massive  arch  leaps  the  chasm  200  feet 
above  the  stream.  The  span  of  the  arch  is 
fifty  to  sixty  feet,  and  the  thickness  of  the 
crown  is  about  forty  feet.  By  means  of  this 
bridge  a  highway  crosses  the  canon,  and  so 
well  is  the  wonder  concealed  by  rocks  and 


trees  that  a  hundred  strangers  might  pass 
over  in  a  summer's  day  without  ever  dream- 
ing of  the  marvel  beneath  their  feet. 

It  supplies  a  fitting  name  for  the  sur- 
rounding county — Rockbridge — and  is  only 
fourteen  miles  south  of  historic  Lexington, 
the  county-seat. 

From  Rockbridge  County  many  sons 
have  gone  out  to  fame,  among  them  Sam 
Houston,  "Big-Foot"  Wallace,  and  Cyrus 
Hall  McCormick. 

Spacious  hotels  at  Natural  Bridge  pro- 
vide entertainment  for  guests  and  visitors. 


X 


M 


H 


"In  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains  of  Virginia, 
On  the  Trail  of  the  Lonesome  Pine." 


This  is  not  the  really  truly  Trail  of  the 
Lonesome  Pine,  which  our  clear  old  friend 
John  Fox  has  made  so  familiar — that  trail  is 
not  in  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains  at  all,  did 
you  know  it,  kind  reader? — but  this  is  a  real 
trail  in  the  real  Blue  Ridge,  on  the  splendid 
highway  that  leads  across  the  mountains 
and  into  the  Valley  at  Basic  and  Waynes- 
boro, and  so  on  through  Fishersville  to 
Staunton. 

From  Staunton  it  is  a  short  and  pleasant 
drive  on  a  summer's  afternoon  to  the  Blue 
Ridge,  and  the  views  from  the  sides  and  the 
summit  of  the  grand  old  mountain  are  de- 
lightful and  inspiring.  The  scenery  all  along 
the  way  is  beautiful  and  full  of  a  charming 
variety — a  soothing  quiet  and  harmony — so 


characteristic  of  Shenandoah  Valley  land- 
scapes. 

The  combination  of  level  field,  rounded 
hill,  wooded  slope,  and  cloud-flecked  sky,  a 
magic  patchwork  of  graceful  form  and  blend- 
ing color,  is  restful  to  tingling  nerves  and 
burdened  spirits.  An  hour  in  Shendo  Land, 
"knee-deep  in  June,"  or  in  the  golden  days  of 
autumn,  no  less  than  in  the  budding",  stirring 
springtime,  is  an  unfailing  tonic  to  the  soul. 

Roads  and  railroads  in  this  region  are 
abundant  and  excellent.  Camping  sites  are 
available  and  easily  accessible.  Wayside 
inns  are  opening  their  doors.  In  the  larger 
towns  and  cities  the  best  hotel  accommoda- 
tions are  provided.  Nature  has  been  lavish 
— art  and  industry  inherit  opportunity. 


M 


< 

W 


"There's   a    long,    long    trail    a-winding, 
Into  the  land  of  mv  dreams." 


The  country  west  of  Staunton  is  a  land 
of  dreams — of  many  dreams  already  fulfilled 
and  many  others  coming"  true.  The  Church- 
ville  Road  is  a  trail  into  the  "Golden  West.-- 
There  wait  the  Allegiianies  with  their  mys- 
tery and  their  beauty,  their  crags  and  their 
bowers,  their  wonder  and  their  wealth. 
Power  is  chained  in  their  valleys  and  in- 
dustry echoes  among  their  hills.  The  ways 
of  travel  that  thread  the  passes  and  scale  the 
summits  are  ways  of  pleasantness  and  peace. 

From  Staunton  westward  several  good 
hisrhways  offer  choice.  One  may  follow  the 
historic  old  Staunton  and  Parkersburg  Turn- 
pike, laid  out  by  Claude  Crozet,  through  Buf- 
falo Gap  and  so  on  either  to  McDowell  and 
Monterey,  or  by  another  road  on  the  left  to 
Goshen  and  Hot  Springs;  or  he  may  take  the 
excellent  Churchville  Road  and  g;o  more  di- 


rectly to  West  Augusta,  McDowell,  and  the 
points  beyond. 

At  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  on  the 
Churchville  Road  and  beyond  that  thriving 
village,  is  the  famous  old  Buckhorn  Tavern, 
celebrated  ever  since  the  days  when  Stone- 
wall Jackson  and  his  "foot  cavalry"  passed 
that  way  on  their  return  from  the  battle  at 
McDowell,  in  the  spring  of  1862. 

Near  the  Buckhorn  Tavern  the  old  Har- 
risonburg and  Warm  Springs  Turnpike 
crosses  from  east  to  west.  Stribling  Springs 
and  other  favorite  summer  resorts  are  in  the 
neighborhood.  Mount  Elliott  and  the  lesser 
peaks  adorn  the  skyline  and  afford  land- 
marks for  the  traveler  and  the  sportsman. 
A  summer  storm  in  these  mountains  is  both 
terrible  and  beautiful — a  thrilling  rhapsody 
in  Nature's  great  symphony. 


West  of  Staunton,  on  the  Churchvili.e  Road 


A  SENEDO  LEGEND 


Many  years  ago,  so  runs  the  tale,  there 
dwelt  in  one  of  the  fastnesses  of  the  Massa- 
nutten  Mountains  (which  the  earliest  white 
explorers  found  already  named  the  Moun- 
tains of  Cenuntua,  or  Shenandoah)  an  un- 
couth but  remarkably  intelligent  hermit.  He 
claimed  to  be  of  Indian  blood;  and  the  gen- 
tleman who  has  preserved  the  story  is  of  the 
opinion  that  this  aged  denizen  of  the  moun- 
tains was  a  descendant  of  the  ancient  Senedo 
tribe,  whose  home  used  to  be  in  Meem's 
Bottoms,  in  Shenandoah  County,  and  who 
were  almost  exterminated  by  the  Southern 
Indians  about  the  time  of  Bacon's  Rebellion. 

In  his  talkative  moods  the  old  hermit 
would  now  and  then  give  to  his  auditors  the 
following  legend : 

"There  was  a  tradition,  handed  down 
from  generation  to  generation  among  my 
people,  that,  after  the  Great  Spirit  had  made 
the  world,  the  morning  stars  came  together 
to  sing  for  joy.  They  assembled  around  the 
shores  of  a  quiet  silver  lake,  bordered  with 
blue  mountains;  for,  as  they  looked  over  the 
wonderful  new  world,  this  was  the  most 
beautiful  place  they  could  see.  So,  hovering 
above    the    quiet    waters    and    lighting"    the 


mountain  tops  with  their  robes  of  fire,  the 
stars  formed  a  great  circle  in  the  heavens 
and  sang  their  songs  of  joy. 

"This  took  place  once  every  thousand 
years.  Once  every  thousand  years  the  stars 
came  back  to  the  silver  lake,  formed  a  great 
circle  around  its  shores,  and  lighting  up  the 
clear  waters  and  the  tops  of  the  blue  moun- 
tains with  heavenly  fire,  they  sang  their 
songs  of  joy.  And  the  angels  in  heaven, 
hearing  the  sweet  music  and  seeing  the  light, 
would  come  down  to  listen;  and  now  and 
then,  as  the  singing  grew  loud  and  joyous, 
they  would  join  in  the  chorus ;  and  at  other 
times,  when  the  music  was  soft  and  sweet 
and  heart-touching,  they  would  shed  tears  in 
sympathy  and  in  silence.  And  thus  the  an- 
gels also  came  to  love  the  silver  lake  and  the 
beautiful  blue  mountains  that  walled  the 
waters  in.  And  whenever  the  stars  would 
leave  the  silver  lake  to  go  back  to  heaven 
for  another  thousand  years,  each  star  would 
take  the  brightest  jewel  from  his  crown  and 
cast  it  into  the  silver  lake ;  and  there  it  would 
sparkle  and  shine  till  the  stars  and  the  an- 
gels came  back  again. 


"One  time  when  the  stars  were  singing 
and  the  angels  were  joining  in  the  loud 
chorus,  there  came  a  mighty  crashing  sound, 
as  of  mountains  falling,  or  of  thunders  in  the 
sky ;  and  as  the  stars  and  the  angels  stopped 
singing"  to  look  and  to  listen  they  saw  a  great 
rock  in  the  mountain  wall  split  in  twain  and 
fall  asunder,  and  through  the  dee])  opening 
the  waters  of  the  lake  began  to  pour  out  and 
to  rush  towards  the  sea.  In  sorrow  and  dis- 
may the  angels  and  the  stars  fled  away,  and 
for  a  thousand  years,  whenever  they  thought 
of  the  beautiful  lake  whose  waters  had 
rushed  down  to  the  sea,  they  spoke  in  whis- 
pers. 

"When  the  thousand  years  were  ended 
and  the  time  came  again  for  the  stars  to  sing- 
together,  they  looked  here  and  there  over  the 
earth  for  another  place  that  might  be  beauti- 
ful enough  for  their  meeting  place,  and  they 
finally  agreed  upon  a  lovely  valley,  through 
which  a  long  winding  river  ran,  and  which 
was  bordered  on  both  sides  with  blue  moun- 
tains. One  reason  they  liked  this  place  was 
because  it  somehow  reminded  them  of  the 
place  where  they  had  met  from  time  to  time 
for  singing  when  the  world  was  new. 


"And  then,  when  the  singing  was  done 
and. the  stars  and  the  angels  were  preparing 
to  go  back  to  heaven,  they  made  a  discovery; 
they  found  that  the  beautiful  valley  was  the 
bed  of  the  beautiful  lake,  and  that  the  blue 
mountains  around  it  were  the  same  ones 
upon  which  they  had  cast  their  robes  of  light 
while  singing  in  ages  past.  And  there,  in 
the  mountain  wall,  at  the  lower  end  of  the 
\  alley,  was  the  huge  cleft  in  the  rocks  where 
the  waters  of  the  lake  had  rushed  out  to 
the  sea. 

"The  stars  were  so  joyous  at  the  discov- 
ery that  each  one  of  them  took  the  brightest 
jewel  from  his  crown  and  cast  it  into  the  long- 
winding  river,  where  all  of  those  jewels  still 
lie  and  sparkle;  and  ever  since  that  day  the 
river  (with  the  Valley  too)  has  been  called 
'The  Daughter  of  the  Stars.' 

"And  at  every  spot  on  the  hillsides  where 
a  chief  angel  stood  a  spring  of  water  gushed 
out  to  feed  the  beautiful  river;  and  at  every 
place  where  an  angel's  tear  fell  when  the 
singing  was  soft  and  sweet  and  heart-touch- 
ing, there  sprang  up  lovely  flowers  which  are 
still  growing  and  filling-  the  Walley  with  their 
fragrance." 


